The second JP54, fast cruising carbon Verdier sailboat
The JP54 is a 16.45 m fast cruising sailboat designed byGuillaume Verdieron commission fromJean-Pierre Dick, with interior layout by Stéphanie Marin. The first unit, The Kid (hull #1), was launched in 2010 at Auckland by Pachoud Yachts for the Absolute Dreamer team. This second unit is a sistership hull launched in 2012, built to the same Verdier plans.
Concept: transpose an IMOCA into a cruising sailboat
The JP54’s program replicates the technical choices of an offshore racing 60-footer — full carbon construction, hydraulic canting keel, ballast tanks — in a sailboat sized for short-handed offshore cruising. Draft reduces from 3.5 m (straight keel) to 2.5 m when the keel is canted to 50°, allowing access to shallow anchorages.
Technical specifications
- Designer: Guillaume Verdier
- Interior layout: Stéphanie Marin
- Hull length: 16.45 m (54 ft)
- Overall length (with bowsprit): 18.235 m
- Beam: 5.3 m
- Draft: 3.5 m (straight keel) / 2.5 m (keel canted 50°)
- Displacement: ~10.2 t
- Construction: full carbon (hull, deck, mast, boom)
- Hydraulic canting keel, twin rudders
- Sail area: 266 m² upwind, 434 m² downwind
- Water ballast: 1,000 L (for harbor maneuvers in shallow waters)
The interior carousel
Verdier’s signature feature: the galley, nav station and saloon are mounted on a rotating carousel that also houses batteries and hydraulic actuators. The assembly can be canted to windward, shifting ballast to leeward for improved stability and sail power.
Series status
The JP54 was developed by Absolute Dreamer, Jean-Pierre Dick’s offshore racing team. This unit is the second built; the first (The Kid) has since been renamedNotre Méditerranée — Ville de Nice and continues to race with Dick.
