5.5 Metre (keelboat)

International 5.5 Metre
Development
Class symbol

Designer	Charles E. Nicholson (rule designer)
Year	1949 (rule design)
Design	Development class
Boat
Crew	3
Draft	Maximum: 1.35 m (4 ft 5 in)
Hull
Type	Monohull
Hull weight	Minimum: 1,700 kg (3,700 lb) Maximum: 2,000 kg (4,400 lb)
LOA	About: 9.5 m (31 ft)
Beam	Minimum: 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Hull Appendages
Keel/Board Type	Fixed
Sails
Spinnaker area	About: 50.0 m² (538 sq ft)
Upwind Sail Area	Minimum: 26.5 m² (285 sq ft) Maximum: 29.0 m² (312 sq ft)
Former Olympic class (Vintage Yachting class)

The International 5.5 Metre class was created to yield a racing keel boat giving a sailing experience similar to that of the International 6 Metre Class, but at a lower cost.

The main class regulation is a restriction on a single quantity output from a formula involving the boat's rating length L, weight (expressed as a displacement D) and sail area S; the regulation states that the output of this formula must not exceed 5.500 metres. There is considerable scope for variations in design while still meeting this restriction, and as a result each 5.5 metre boat is unique.

If the design parameters of a proposed new boat result in a formula output exceeding 5.5 metres, then one or more of the parameters must be suitably adjusted. Performance data gained from testing models towed in a long water tank (referred to in yacht design as Ship model basin) can suggest optimal combinations of parameters. The 5.5. metre rule is a variant of the International Rule (sailing) that was established already in 1907. The 5.5. is therefore closely related to larger metre boats such as the 6mR, 8mR and the 12mR.

Since 2010 the 5.5 Metre is one of the Vintage Yachting Classes at the Vintage Yachting Games.

History

5.5-metre class Olympic race in Helsinki 1952. Boats are German Tom Kyle (G I), Gold medalist Complex II (US I) and Danish Jill (D 2).

The 5.5-metre class was a redesign of the 6-metre class by Charles E. Nicholson in 1937. The first boats conforming to the 5.5-metre rule were built in 1949. There had been an earlier attempt to build a cheaper alternative to the Sixes. In 1929 the 5-metre class was established by the French "Union de Societes Nautique Francaise" and the class was accepted in London. It achieved a position as the smallest new international metre class and some hundreds boats were built. Nevertheless, the 5 metre never managed to achieve an Olympic status. The 5.5-metre class replaced it quickly and was raced in Olympics for first time in 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. The Scandinavian Gold Cup has also been competed with 5.5m boats since 1953. 5.5 metre boats replaced the International 6-metre at the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Australia. The 5.5 metre participation in the Olympic sailing events continued at the 1960 Olympic Games and 1964 Olympic Games. During the 1960s it however began to draw similar criticism as preceding six-metre class - namely, increasing costs - and the boat lost Olympic status after 1968 Olympic Games, due to excessive design and building costs of one off boats, marking the end of development class keel boats in Olympic regattas. However, the class remained active thereafter and 5.5-metre boats are still very actively raced.

The formula

The measurement formula is given in the 2006 International Five Point Five Metre Rating Rules:

5.500{\mbox{ metres}}\geq 0.9\cdot \left({\frac {L\cdot {\sqrt[ {2}]{S}}}{12\cdot {\sqrt[ {3}]{D}}}}+{\frac {L+{\sqrt[ {2}]{S}}}{4}}\right)

where

$L$ = length for rating
$S$ = measured sail area
$D$ = displacement in cubic metres

Events

Olympic Games^[1]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sweden (SWE)	2	1	1	4
2	United States (USA)	2	0	2	4
3	Australia (AUS)	1	0	0	1
4	Great Britain (GBR)	0	1	1	2
4	Switzerland (SUI)	0	1	1	2
6	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0	1
6	Norway (NOR)	0	1	0	1
		5	5	5	15

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1952 Helsinki	United States (USA) Britton Chance Michael Schoettle Edgar White Sumner White	Norway (NOR) Peder Lunde Vibeke Lunde Børre Falkum-Hansen	Sweden (SWE) Folke Wassén Carl-Erik Ohlson Magnus Wassén
1956 Melbourne	Sweden (SWE) Lars Thörn Hjalmar Karlsson Sture Stork	Great Britain (GBR) Robert Perry David Bowker John Dillon Neil Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick	Australia (AUS) Jock Sturrock Douglas Buxton Devereaux Mytton
1960 Rome	United States (USA) George O'Day James Hunt David Smith	Denmark (DEN) William Berntsen Steen Christensen Sören Hancke	Switzerland (SUI) Henri Copponex Pierre Girard Manfred Metzger
1964 Tokyo	Australia (AUS) William Northam Peter O'Donnell James Sargeant	Sweden (SWE) Lars Thörn Arne Karlsson Sture Stork	United States (USA) John J. McNamara Joseph Batchelder Francis Scully
1968 Mexico City	Sweden (SWE) Ulf Sundelin Jörgen Sundelin Peter Sundelin	Switzerland (SUI) Louis Noverraz Bernhard Dunand Marcel Stern	Great Britain (GBR) Robin Aisher Paul Anderson Adrian Jardine

World Championships^[2]

Vintage Yachting Games ^[3]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Finland	1	0	0	1
2	Germany	0	1	0	1
3	France	0	0	1	1

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2012 Lake Como	Finland Anders Nordman Robert Segercrantz Johan Hjelt	Germany Hubert 'Biwi' Reich Wolfgang Oehler Christian Hemmerich	France) William Borel Yves Duclos-Grenet Adrien Baumelle

Pan American Games^[4]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	1	0	0	1
2	Canada	0	1	0	1
3	Ecuador	0	0	1	1
		1	1	1	3

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1959 Chicago	United States	Canada	Ecuador

European Championships^[5]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Switzerland	7	4	7	18
2	Norway	2	2	0	4
3	United States	1	0	1	2
4	United Kingdom	0	1	1	2
5	France	0	1	0	1
5	Soviet Union	0	1	0	1
		8	8	8	24

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1968 Neuenburger See^[6]	Toucan IX (SUI) Louis Noverraz	Nadezhda VI (URS) Konstantin Alexandrov	Janael (FRA) Breteche
1980 Bénodet	Switzerland (F) Sprecher	France (F) Souben	Switzerland (Z) Capecchi
1993 Cannes^[7]	The Sting (SUI) Christian Wahl	Zenda Corn (NOR) Kalle Nergaard	My Shout (USA) Glen Foster
1995 Thun^[8]	Switzerland Daniel Schenker Christoph Schenker Eric Waser	Switzerland Jürg Menzi Jürg Christen Dino Fumasoli	Switzerland Bruno Marazzi Stefan Haftka Flavio Marazzi
1997 Le Crouesty	United States (FRA) Glen Foster	Switzerland (SUI) Jean-Claude Vuithier	Switzerland (SUI) Jürg Menzi
1998 Cannes	Switzerland (FRA) Christian Wahl	Norway (NOR) Kalle Nergaard	United States (USA) Glen Foster
2000 Genoa^[9]	Joker 8 (SUI) Thomas Moser Felix Meyer T. Sprecher	Salamander 5 (GBR) Jonathan Janson Mark Downer Rupert Richardson	Marie-Françoise 14 (SUI) Jürg Menzi Juerg Christen Daniel Stampfli
2005 Attersee	Marie-Françoise 17 (SUI) Jürg Menzi Daniel Stampfli Gaume	Switzerland Christoph Burger	Switzerland Hans-Peter Schmid
2008 Mariehamn	Norway (FIN) Kristian Nergaard Petrus Eide Johan Barne	Norway (NOR) Christoph Burger Christof Wilke Mathias Dahlman Dominik Neidhart 1st race only	Switzerland (SUI) Jürg Menzi Daniel Stampfli Léonard Gaume
2013 Benodet	Norway (FIN) Kristian Nergaard NN NN	Norway (SUI) Bernard Haissly NN NN	Switzerland (SUI) Jürg Menzi NN NN

Scandinavian Gold Cup

Class association

International 5.5 Metre

The object of the International 5.5 Metre Class Association is to promote and develop 5.5 Metre racing throughout the World. The first President of the association was Mr. Owen Aisher.^[10]

Since the development of the class spanned more than half a century the early boats are not competitive to race against the modern designs. Therefore, the association made, in 2007, divisions in the class based upon age of the boat:^[11]

Classic Fleet (Designs before 1970)
Evolution Fleet
Modern Fleet (Designs from 1994)

During major races there are separate trophies per fleet, however if a classic fleet boat beats the modern fleet, the classic fleet boat wins the modern fleet trophy.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 5.5 Metre.

Classes of World Sailing
Current Olympic classes	470 49er 49er FX Finn Laser Laser Radial RS:X Nacra 17
ISAF centreboard classes	29er 420 505 B14 Byte Cadet Contender Enterprise Europe Fireball Flying Dutchman Flying Junior GP14 Int. 14 Laser 2 Laser 4.7 Lightning Mirror Moth Musto Performance Skiff O'pen BIC OK Dinghy Optimist RS Feva RS Tera RS100 RS500 Snipe Splash Sunfish Tasar Topper Vaurien Zoom 8
ISAF keelboat classes	12 mR 2.4 mR 5.5 m 6 mR 8 mR Dragon Etchells Flying 15 Hansa 2.3 Hansa 303 Hansa Liberty H-boat J/22 J/24 J/70 J/80 Melges 20 Melges 24 Melges 32 Micro Platu 25 RC44 SB20 Shark 24 Soling Sonar Star Tempest Yngling
ISAF yacht classes	Class40 Farr 30 (Mumm 30) Farr 40 IMOCA 60 J/111 International Maxi Association Soto 40 Swan 45 Swan 60 TP 52 X-35 X-41
ISAF multihull classes	A-Class Dart 18 Formula 16 Formula 18 Hobie 14 Hobie 16 Hobie Dragoon Hobie Tiger Hobie Wildcat Nacra Infusion SL 16 Topcat K1 Tornado Viper F16
ISAF windsurfer classes	Formula Experience Formula Windsurfing Funboard Kona Mistral Raceboard RS:One Speed Windsurfing Techno 293
ISAF kiteboarding classes	International Kiteboarding Association
International Radio Sailing Association classes	10 rater A Class Marblehead One Metre
Former ISAF classes	11:Metre One Design 29erXX Aloha Buzz C-Class Division I Division II Division III Elliott 6m Farr 45 Farr Maxi One Design Hobie 17 Hobie 18 IOD ISO Laser Vago Lechner A-390 Mistral Junior Mumm 36 Nacra F18 Open 50 ORMA 60 Sydney 40 Ultimate 20 Windglider X-99

Olympic sailing classes

Current classes

Former classes

10 Metre
12' Dinghy
12 Metre
12m² Sharpie
15 Metre
18' Dinghy
Skerry cruiser (30m², 40m²)
5.5 Metre
6 Metre
6.5 Metre
7 Metre
8 Metre
8.5 Metre
9 Metre
Division II
Dragon
Elliott 6m
Europe
Firefly
Flying Dutchman
French National Monotype 1924
Lechner A-390
Mistral One Design
O-Jolle
Snowbird
Soling
Star
Swallow
Tempest
Ton classes (0–½, ½–1, 1–2, 2–3, 3–10, 10–20, 20⁺ & Open)
Tornado
Windglider
Yngling

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