Kelt 5.50 Lifting keel

Sailboat specifications

The Kelt 5.50 is a 17’11” (5.45m) cruising sailboat designed by Gilles Ollier (France). She was built between 1978 and 1982 by Kelt (France). The Lifting keel version features an appendage configuration without compromise between draft and performance. Only drawback: some space is taken inside by the keel.

Kelt 5.50's main features

Model: Kelt 5.50
Version: Lifting keel
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Coastal cruising sailboat
Sailboat builder: Kelt
Sailboat designer: Gilles Ollier
Sailboat collection: Micro
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich balsa fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: About 600
First built hull: 1978
Last built hull: 1982
Appendages: Lifting keel : retractable fin without bulb
Helm: Single tiller
Rudder: Single transom hung rudder
Unsinkable: Yes
Trailerable: Yes
Former French navigation category: 5
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Kelt 5.50's main dimensions

Overall length: 19’ 7”5.97 m
Hull length: 17’ 11”5.45 m
Waterline length: 15’ 8”4.8 m
Beam (width): 7’ 11”2.42 m
Waterline beam (width): 6’ 1”1.87 m
Draft: 3’ 7”1.1 m
Draft when appendages up: 0’ 10”0.25 m
Mast height from D_WL: 27’ 6”8.38 m
Fore freeboard: 2’ 6”0.75 m
Mid-ship freeboard: 2’ 5”0.72 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 1323 lb600 kg
Maximum displacement (M_LDC): 2061 lb935 kg
Ballast weight: 220 lb100 kg
Ballast type: Lead
French customs tonnage: 2.78 Tx

Kelt 5.50's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 199 ft²18.45 m²
Downwind sail area: 313 ft²29.04 m²
Mainsail area: 113 ft²10.54 m²
Genoa area: 85 ft²7.91 m²
Jib area: 59 ft²5.48 m²
Stormjib area: 31 ft²2.9 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 199 ft²18.5 m²
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 21’ 4”6.5 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 9’ 2”2.8 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi 7/8
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 1
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: Continuous

Kelt 5.50's performances

HN (French rating) iHN or "Handicap Nationale" is an empirical rating system used in France allowing various monohulls, of different sizes and designs, to race each other fairly. It is particularly suitable for cruiser and cruiser-racer. Therefore, by comparing these values, we can have an indication of the relative speed of 2 boats.: 3.0
Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 279 ft²/T25.94 m²/T
Downwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size.: 439 ft²/T40.82 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 154
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 17 %
Wetted area: 97 ft²9.05 m²
Maximum transverse section: 4 ft²0.34 m²
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 5.32 knots