Grand Soleil 56
Cantiere del Pardo · Philippe Briand · 2003
Updated
The Grand Soleil 56 is a 16.92 m displacement racing yacht designed by Philippe Briand and built by Cantiere del Pardo, first launched in 2003. It races in Class 0.
Length
16.92 m
55′ 6″
Beam
4.86 m
Draft
2.73 m
Displacement
20.2 t
Sail area
161 m²
On the podium
Where a Grand Soleil 56 finishes when she goes racing.
0
Wins
0
Seconds
0
Thirds
5
Starts
Not enough races yet for a percentage — these are the counts so far. We keep collecting results, so this will fill in.
Read from 5 starts by 2 boats between 2011 and 2025, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Grand Soleil 56 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Campionato Invernale West Liguria2025- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2025
- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2021
- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2015
- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2011
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: 1 race of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
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Not enough data yet: 4 races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a Grand Soleil 56 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Met too few times for a figure:
Comet 45 (5 meetings), First 34.7 (3 meetings), Swan 45 (2 meetings), First 44.7 (4 meetings), Comet 41 (3 meetings), Dufour 44 (2 meetings), Sly 42 (2 meetings), Elan 410 (2 meetings), Grand Soleil 46 (Carkeek) (2 meetings), First 40 (2 meetings), X-43 (2 meetings), X-41 (2 meetings), J/109 (2 meetings), Grand Soleil 40 (Paperini) (3 meetings), First 36.7 (4 meetings), Latini 52 (1 meeting), X-46 (1 meeting), J/133 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 42 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), Sydney 46 (1 meeting), X-55 (1 meeting), Hanse 630e (1 meeting), Dufour 45 (1 meeting), Italia 12.98 (Cossutti) (2 meetings), Eleva 50 (1 meeting), Solaris 47 (1 meeting), Swan 42 (1 meeting), Comet 38 (Vallicelli) (1 meeting), Swan 65 (Stephens) (1 meeting), Millenium 45 (1 meeting), Vismara 34 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 43 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 47 (1 meeting), G 34 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 46.3 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 48 (1 meeting), Sun Fast 3600 (1 meeting), First 47.7 (1 meeting), Elan 380 (1 meeting), IMX 40 (1 meeting)
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
6.44
38°
Beam reach
10.09
90°
Broad reach
10.92
135°
Downwind VMG
8.99
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 upwind in a strong breeze, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage across the wind 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 0.8 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 56
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.88 | 5.47 | 6.14 | 6.44 |
| 52° | 6.00 | 8.07 | 8.81 | 9.08 |
| 60° | 6.38 | 8.37 | 9.06 | 9.34 |
| 75° | 6.65 | 8.59 | 9.30 | 9.75 |
| 90° | 6.52 | 8.64 | 9.38 | 10.09 |
| 110° | 6.55 | 8.92 | 9.81 | 10.52 |
| 120° | 6.39 | 8.84 | 9.84 | 10.93 |
| 135° | 5.70 | 8.30 | 9.53 | 10.92 |
| 150° | 4.75 | 7.23 | 8.89 | 10.12 |
| Run VMG | 4.12 | 6.26 | 7.73 | 8.99 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Roughly half carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 930 kg.
Rigging
Grand Soleil 56 rig and sail dimensions
A Grand Soleil 56 carries 20.16 m of mainsail hoist on a 7.12 m boom, a forestay 21.81 m above the deck and a 6.75 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 4 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails