Comet 51
Comar · Andrea Vallicelli · 2001
Updated
The Comet 51 is a 15.04 m displacement racing yacht designed by Andrea Vallicelli and built by Comar, first launched in 2001. It races in Class A.
Length
15.04 m
49′ 4″
Beam
4.69 m
Draft
2.56 m
Displacement
13.0 t
Sail area
140 m²
On the podium
Where a Comet 51 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
12%
of 42 starts by 4 boats
Wins
2%
Read from 42 starts by 4 boats between 2010 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Comet 51 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
73° Loro Piana Giraglia2026- Pasquavela - Inshore2026
- Campionato Invernale di Porto Santo Stefano2026
- Regata dei Cinque Fari2025
- Regata Brindisi-Corfù2025
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 6 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
12%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Comet 51 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Farr 45 (7 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Design) (7 meetings), Bonin 31 (7 meetings), Solaris 55 (7 meetings), Grand Soleil 39 (Maletto) (7 meetings), J/122 (6 meetings), Bavaria Match 42 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 40 (Paperini) (6 meetings), Elan 410 (7 meetings), J/40 (6 meetings), Sinergia 40 (5 meetings), Eleva 50 (5 meetings), Jv 56 (5 meetings), Solaris 50 (5 meetings), Rodman 42 (5 meetings), Cookson 50 (5 meetings), Marten 49 (5 meetings), First 36.7 (6 meetings), First 34.7 (5 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Comet 51 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
6.23
38°
Beam reach
9.80
90°
Broad reach
10.59
135°
Downwind VMG
8.59
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
This one is at home going to windward. Windward-leeward courses give it more of what it is good at than a coastal race does.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on the beat in a strong breeze, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage on the beam as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short on a broad reach in a strong breeze, giving away time it never gets back. That is a displacement hull working to its designed speed.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Comet 51
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.89 | 5.43 | 6.02 | 6.23 |
| 52° | 6.00 | 7.92 | 8.48 | 8.71 |
| 60° | 6.37 | 8.16 | 8.72 | 8.99 |
| 75° | 6.63 | 8.32 | 8.97 | 9.43 |
| 90° | 6.50 | 8.31 | 9.04 | 9.80 |
| 110° | 6.35 | 8.50 | 9.42 | 10.38 |
| 120° | 6.19 | 8.41 | 9.38 | 10.79 |
| 135° | 5.56 | 7.92 | 9.06 | 10.59 |
| 150° | 4.65 | 6.98 | 8.47 | 9.71 |
| Run VMG | 4.03 | 6.05 | 7.38 | 8.59 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Roughly half carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 800 kg.
Rigging
Comet 51 rig and sail dimensions
A Comet 51 carries 18.30 m of mainsail hoist on a 6.50 m boom, a forestay 19.09 m above the deck and a 6.70 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 5 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 151 to 231 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.