X-55
X-Yachts · Niels Jeppesen · 2007
Updated
The X-55 is a 16.83 m displacement racing yacht designed by Niels Jeppesen and built by X-Yachts, first launched in 2007. It races in Class A.
Length
16.83 m
55′ 3″
Beam
4.56 m
Draft
3.23 m
Displacement
18.6 t
Sail area
173 m²
On the podium
Where a X-55 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
0%
of 15 starts by 3 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 15 starts by 3 boats between 2011 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a X-55 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
MaiOR - Mai Offshore Regatta2026
Gotland Runt 2025 ORCi Full Crew2025
151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2023- 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: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 2 races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a X-55 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
J/111 (7 meetings), X-50 (7 meetings), X-46 (6 meetings), JPK 10.30 (5 meetings), First 36.7 (5 meetings), First 40 (5 meetings), JPK 10.80 (5 meetings), Linjett 33 (5 meetings), Dehler 32 (5 meetings), First 35 (Farr) (5 meetings), J/99 (4 meetings), Xp 44 (4 meetings), Finnflyer 34 (3 meetings), Comet 45 (2 meetings), First 44.7 (3 meetings), Dufour 44 (2 meetings), Latini 52 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 56 (1 meeting), J/133 (1 meeting), Swan 45 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 42 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), Sydney 46 (1 meeting), Comet 41 (1 meeting), Hanse 630e (1 meeting), Dufour 45 (1 meeting), Sly 42 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 47 (2 meetings), Grand Soleil 34 (Skyron) (1 meeting), J/112 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 40 (Paperini) (1 meeting), JOD 35 (1 meeting), Figaro 3 (1 meeting), Pogo 36 (1 meeting), First 40.7 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the X-55 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
6.31
38°
Beam reach
9.98
90°
Broad reach
11.15
135°
Downwind VMG
9.45
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.
It does its best work before the breeze fills in. In the light it does more than its numbers promise, and gives some of that back when the wind arrives.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on the beam in the light stuff, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short cracked off once it pipes up, 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 X-55
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 4.15 | 5.60 | 6.07 | 6.31 |
| 52° | 6.31 | 8.19 | 8.67 | 8.92 |
| 60° | 6.65 | 8.49 | 8.95 | 9.18 |
| 75° | 6.93 | 8.72 | 9.27 | 9.58 |
| 90° | 6.81 | 8.73 | 9.43 | 9.98 |
| 110° | 6.80 | 8.99 | 9.68 | 10.37 |
| 120° | 6.64 | 8.94 | 9.89 | 10.73 |
| 135° | 5.98 | 8.47 | 9.61 | 11.15 |
| 150° | 4.98 | 7.43 | 8.99 | 10.33 |
| Run VMG | 4.31 | 6.44 | 7.90 | 9.45 |
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 940 kg.
Rigging
X-55 rig and sail dimensions
A X-55 carries 22.34 m of mainsail hoist on a 7.55 m boom, a forestay 23.24 m above the deck and a 6.50 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 — 232 to 265 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.