Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk)
Cantiere del Pardo · Judel/Vrolijk · 2004
Updated
The Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) is a 14.90 m displacement racing yacht designed by Judel/Vrolijk and built by Cantiere del Pardo, first launched in 2004. It races in Class A. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 7% of the designs it races against. It comes alive as the breeze builds, and gives time away in the light.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 7% of the boats it races against.
43rd of 46 in its class.
This design has been found in real race results — 22 starts across 9 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
14.90 m
48′ 11″
Beam
4.55 m
Draft
2.32 m
Displacement
13.0 t
Sail area
116 m²
On the podium
Where a Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
0%
of 22 starts by 8 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 22 starts by 8 boats between 2012 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Aegean 6002026- "Καλαμακεια & Παραδοσιακα Καλαμακεια 2025"2025
Regata Jabuka2024
Copa del Canal2016
151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2016
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: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
0%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Comet 41 (4 meetings), First 40.7 (5 meetings), Sun Odyssey 49 (5 meetings), Salona 41 (3 meetings), Farr 40 (3 meetings), J/122 (5 meetings), Grand Soleil 46 (Carkeek) (4 meetings), Dufour 45 (3 meetings), First 44.7 (5 meetings), J/133 (7 meetings), X-442 (7 meetings), Dufour 40 (7 meetings), Centurion 40 (7 meetings), First 33.7 (7 meetings), First 34.7 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Carkeek) (3 meetings), Latini 52 (2 meetings), Swan 45 (2 meetings), Cookson 50 (3 meetings), Swan 42 (2 meetings), Elan 450 (2 meetings), JOD 35 (3 meetings), Selection (5 meetings), Farr 30 (4 meetings), Dufour 36 (4 meetings), First 40 (3 meetings), Selection 37 (2 meetings), Hanse 370e (3 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) 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
6.05
39°
Beam reach
9.62
90°
Broad reach
10.48
135°
Downwind VMG
8.70
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 beam in a strong breeze, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short on a broad reach when it blows, 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 0.6 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk)
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.52 | 5.06 | 5.81 | 6.05 |
| 52° | 5.51 | 7.53 | 8.32 | 8.59 |
| 60° | 5.89 | 7.82 | 8.56 | 8.86 |
| 75° | 6.17 | 8.04 | 8.78 | 9.29 |
| 90° | 6.25 | 8.29 | 9.04 | 9.62 |
| 110° | 6.17 | 8.41 | 9.30 | 10.25 |
| 120° | 6.02 | 8.30 | 9.33 | 10.51 |
| 135° | 5.35 | 7.79 | 8.97 | 10.48 |
| 150° | 4.49 | 6.83 | 8.39 | 9.70 |
| Run VMG | 3.88 | 5.92 | 7.37 | 8.70 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 640 kg.
Rigging
Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) rig and sail dimensions
A Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) carries 16.91 m of mainsail hoist on a 6.12 m boom, a forestay 17.43 m above the deck and a 6.12 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 9 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 128 to 200 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.
Other designs under the same name
The name has been carried by more than one design. They are different boats.