X5.6
X-Yachts · Niels Jeppesen · 2021
Updated
The X5.6 is a 16.31 m displacement racing yacht designed by Niels Jeppesen and built by X-Yachts, first launched in 2021. It races in Class 0.
Length
16.31 m
53′ 6″
Beam
4.89 m
Draft
2.79 m
Displacement
21.9 t
Sail area
174 m²
On the podium
Where a X5.6 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
72%
of 18 starts by 1 boat
Wins
22%
Read from 18 starts by 1 boat between 2024 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a X5.6 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
MaiOR - Mai Offshore Regatta2026
Hotel Melfarhus DH-DM2026- DH-Dm2024
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
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Not enough data yet: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
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Not enough data yet: no races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a X5.6 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), Swan 42 (5 meetings), Italia 11.98 (5 meetings), Xp 44 (4 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the X5.6 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
6.30
39°
Beam reach
10.21
90°
Broad reach
11.43
135°
Downwind VMG
9.24
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 is a light-air boat. Early-season racing and morning breezes play to its strengths; once it pipes up the fleet comes back to it.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on the beam in moderate air, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage off the wind as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short off the wind 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 0.6 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a X5.6
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.98 | 5.48 | 6.02 | 6.30 |
| 52° | 6.16 | 8.12 | 8.77 | 9.06 |
| 60° | 6.54 | 8.46 | 9.08 | 9.36 |
| 75° | 6.86 | 8.71 | 9.39 | 9.81 |
| 90° | 7.00 | 9.00 | 9.58 | 10.21 |
| 110° | 6.92 | 9.14 | 9.90 | 10.91 |
| 120° | 6.76 | 9.11 | 10.12 | 11.11 |
| 135° | 6.09 | 8.64 | 9.80 | 11.43 |
| 150° | 5.09 | 7.58 | 9.17 | 10.49 |
| Run VMG | 4.41 | 6.57 | 8.00 | 9.24 |
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 1000 kg.
Rigging
X5.6 rig and sail dimensions
A X5.6 carries 22.48 m of mainsail hoist on a 7.55 m boom, a forestay 22.67 m above the deck and a 7.35 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 3 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 264 to 291 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.