Review of Comet 50S

Basic specs.

The Comet 50S is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Vallicelli in the early 2000. The Comet 50S is built by the Italian yard Comar Yachts.

Here we would have liked to show you nice photos of the Comet 50S.
If you have a photo you would like to share: Upload Image

Looking for a new boat? Find a Comet 50S or similar boat for sale

Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 598 liters (157 US gallons, 131 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity.

Rig

The Comet 50S is built with a fractional rig. The sail area for the mailsail + jib is 115.2 m² (1,240.3 ft²). A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel

Fin keel with bulb

The Comet 50S is built with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel. The advantage of the bulb is that it lowers the center of gravity which resists heeling and reduces the draft.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.60 - 2.70 meter (8.53 - 8.83 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Comet 50S is 2.02, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.6 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Comet 50S is about 399 kg/cm, alternatively 2239 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 399 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 2239 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Comet 50S is 25.9.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 18% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Comet 50S is 3.28.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 79% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Comet 50S is 34%.

This ballast ratio is higher than 42% of all similar sailboat designs. Since the ballast ratio and the righting moment (i.e. better ability to resist heeling) is strongly correlated, a ballast ratio just below average indicates an ability to resist heeling below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Comet 50S is 177 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

73% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Comet 50S with ISO 8666 reference sail is 21.2, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 24.8.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 85% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 70m² (753 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	46.3 m	(151.9 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	46.3 m	(151.9 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	46.3 m	(151.9 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	15.4 m	(50.5 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	15.4 m	(50.5 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	38.5 m	(126.3 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	33.9 m	(111.2 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	6.6 m	(21.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	13.2 m	(43.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	13.2 m	(43.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Comet 50 S it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.