Beneteau California 5.50

The Beneteau California 5.50, or 550, is a French trailerable sailboat that was designed by André Bénéteau as a fishing boat, day sailer and pocket cruiser. The design is named for its length overall in metres and was first built in 1981.

Production
The design was built by Beneteau in France, from 1981 to 1988, with 950 boats completed, but it is now out of production.

Design
The California 5.50 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of glassfibre, with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop rig, with a deck-stepped mast and aluminium spars with stainless steel wire standing rigging. The hull has a raked stem, an angled transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed long keel or optional twin keels. It displaces 1433 lb.

The boat has a draft of 1.31 ft with the standard long keel and 1.64 ft with the optional twin keel configuration.

The boat is normally fitted with a small 9.8 to 14.7 hp outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. It has sleeping accommodation for two people, with a double "V"-berth in the cabin.

The design has a hull speed of 5.09 kn.