Castle 550

Description

The Castle 550 is a compact Australian trailerable sailboat (often categorized as a trailer sailor or pocket cruiser) with a fractional sloop rig, lifting keel (typically a lead or weighted daggerboard for improved upwind performance and shallow draft when raised), and pop-top or lifting cabin roof for standing headroom at anchor/mooring, designed by Steven Douglas (the same Australian naval architect behind the popular Castle 650, focusing on lightweight, high-performance trailerables with family-friendly features), built by Yachtworks (Mordialloc, Victoria, Australia) or associated small yards as a smaller sibling in the Castle line; introduced in the early-to-mid 1980s (following the Castle 650's 1980 debut, as part of a range emphasizing easy trailering, launching, and spirited sailing), with production continuing intermittently or on demand into later years (still referenced in Australian class associations and used boat markets, though less common than the 650); quantity manufactured is low (estimated 50–100 or fewer, based on limited builder output, class records, and rarity in listings compared to the more prolific 650, with some hulls possibly owner-completed or kit-influenced).