Wauquiez 55

Name: Wauquiez 55
Brand: Wauquiez

In production

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Wauquiez 55 exterior — Wauquiez

Summary

Sailing MonohullSail

Length overall: 57.7 ft
Beam: 17.2 ft
Draft: 5.2–13.8 ft
Displacement: 44,092 lb
Sail area (upwind): 1,765 ft²
Cabins: 3

* A standard reference image, not the actual boat — shown to help visualise this model's published dimensions.

Best Suited For

Liveaboard
From the published figures: LOA 17.58 m · 3 cabins · fresh water 720 L

Tags are derived from certified class, length, sail area, accommodation and tankage using the criteria described on the Sources page; an editor may add or remove one.

Sailing Ratios

Classic yacht-design ratios worked out from the builder's published figures, each shown against the bands designers read it by.

Sail area / displacement

How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.

22.6· Performance

How it is worked out

sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔

published upwind sail area

Displacement / length

How heavy the boat is for its waterline length. Lower is lighter and quicker; higher is steadier and roomier.

159· Light

How it is worked out

displacement (long tons) ÷ (0.01 × waterline length in ft)³

Ballast ratio

The share of the weight carried in the keel — a rough guide to stiffness, though how deep that weight sits matters as much.

25· Low

How it is worked out

ballast ÷ displacement × 100

Comfort ratio

Ted Brewer's measure of how gently a boat moves in a seaway. Higher means a slower, easier motion.

29.2· Coastal

How it is worked out

displacement (lb) ÷ (0.65 × (0.7 × LWL + 0.3 × LOA) × beam^1.333), lengths in ft

Capsize screening

A guide from the inquiry after the 1979 Fastnet race: below 2 was taken as suited to ocean passages. It ignores hull shape and where the ballast sits.

1.95· Below 2

How it is worked out

beam (ft) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅓

Hull speed

Roughly the speed a displacement hull reaches before it has to climb its own bow wave.

9.5 kn

How it is worked out

1.34 × √(waterline length in ft), in knots

Most builders publish a light displacement. The ratios were defined on a loaded boat, so every boat here reads a little lighter than a surveyor's figure would — all alike, which keeps them comparable.

Tanks

What the builder publishes about how fast, how strong and how much the boat carries.

Fuel and water on one scale: a tank twice the height holds twice as much.

Fuel246 gal
Water190 gal

Show the builders' own words

A figure marked with a quote mark was read from the builder's page. Open it for the exact line, the page and the date.

Dimensions

LOA: 57.7 ft (17.58 m)
Hull length: 53.8 ft (16.4 m)
LWL: 49.9 ft (15.2 m)
Beam: 17.2 ft (5.25 m)
Draft (min): 5.2 ft (1.6 m)
Draft (max): 13.8 ft (4.2 m)
Air draft: —
Displacement: 44,092 lb (20,000 kg)
Ballast: 10,913 lb (4,950 kg)
Cabins: 3
Heads: —
Berths: —

Sail Plan

Main sail: 926 ft² (86 m²)
Jib: —
Genoa: 840 ft² (78 m²)
Sail area: 1,765 ft² (164 m²)
Downwind sail area: 3,229 ft² (300 m²)
Rig type: —

Engine and Tanks

Engine: 50–75 hp (Volvo Penta)
Engine count: 2
Engine manufacturer: Volvo Penta
Propulsion type: saildrive
Fuel capacity: 246 gal (930 L)
Fresh water capacity: 190 gal (720 L)
Black water capacity: —

Construction

Mast material: —
Hull material: —
Deck material: —
Keel type: —
Rudder type: —
Steering wheels: —

Builder's Own Figures

Trinquette autovireuse: 35 m²
Déplacement en charge: 25 t
Tirant d'eau quille pivotante: 1,6 – 4,2 m
Tirant d'eau fixe: 2,40 m
Spinnaker: 300 m²
Lest (fixe – relevable): 4,95 – 3,84 t
Surface de voile au près (V01 – V02 – V03): 164 – 157 – 169 m²
Grand-voile (V01 – V02 – V03): 86 – 79 – 91 m²
Gennaker: 135 m²
Trinquette sur rail: 44 m²

Figures read fromwauquiez.com/pilot-saloon-42/· Fiche techniqueread 9/13/2026

Videos

External content

Films of this model from the builder's official YouTube channel (Wauquiez Yachts | Official). They are the builder's own; the figures above are the reference.

Just another fabulous day onboard the Wauquiez 55
Wauquiez Yachts | Official · 9/11/2025
A one-minute dream onboard the Wauquiez 55
Wauquiez Yachts | Official · 7/29/2025
Wauquiez 55 - 2024 - Indoor atmosphere 4K
Wauquiez Yachts | Official · 7/29/2025
WAUQUIEZ 55 - 2024 - Interior
Wauquiez Yachts | Official · 7/29/2025

Videos whose title names the Wauquiez 55, from the channel the builder's site links; last checked 9/30/2026. Playing one loads YouTube's player, which may set cookies.

About Wauquiez

Semi-custom

French builder of offshore-cruising sailing monohulls, founded in 1965 by Henri Wauquiez and based in Neuville-en-Ferrain, France.

Henri Wauquiez gave the yard his name in 1965 and spent his life building uncommon boats; the yard says it never took the industrial road, preferring to let the craft speak. The model list reads as its history. It opened with Holman & Pye designs -- the Elizabethan 29 of 1965, the Elizabethan 35 and Victorian of 1966, the Centurion 32 of 1968 -- then the Chance 37 in 1973, the Amphitrite in 1975, the Gladiateur in 1977, the Hood 38 in 1978 and the Pretorien in 1979, with the first boats of the yard's own drawing, the Antigua 34 and 37, in 1980 and 1981. Ed Dubois then shaped the line for two decades, from the Centurion 47 of 1984 through the 42, 38, 36 and 40 to the Centurion 59, 45 and 49 of 1990, the Centurion 61S and the Pilot Saloon 60 of 1991, and the Pilot Saloon 54, 48 and 43 that followed. Berret-Racoupeau took over from the Pilot Saloon 40 of 2000, drawing the 41, 47 and 55, the Centurion 40S.2, the Optio and the Centurion 57; Marc Lombard drew the Opium 39 of 2010 and, with Roseo, the Wauquiez 55 of 2024. These are offshore boats meant to be sailed: hulls infused for the resin-to-fibre ratio and the weight, decks and hulls in balsa sandwich for stiffness and for thermal and acoustic insulation.

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