Kid Information, Review, Specs

History and Design

The Jouët Kid commenced production in 1969. During this era, the French builder Jouët was undergoing a significant transition from traditional wooden boat construction to the burgeoning use of fiberglass, a material that revolutionized boat building by enabling more efficient mass production. The Kid, with its fiberglass hull and deck, is a product of this pivotal period in Jouët's history. While specific design philosophies or goals for the diminutive Kid model are not widely documented, it aligns with Jouët's broader reputation for crafting well-designed, robust, and seaworthy vessels that aimed to democratize sailing. The company, founded by Jean-Pierre Jouët, was known for producing boats that offered dependable performance and comfort, appealing to a wide range of sailing enthusiasts.

Sailing Performance and Handling

With a length overall of 13.25 feet and a waterline length of 12.4 feet, the Jouet Kid is a very small monohull, rigged as a fractional sloop. Its design, featuring a centerboard and a displacement of 196 pounds, suggests it was conceived for easy handling and versatility in shallower waters. Due to its compact size, traditional performance ratios such as sail area to displacement or ballast to displacement are not typically applied as qualitative descriptors for boats of this scale. Instead, the fractional sloop rig would likely contribute to responsive handling, making it a nimble boat for day sailing or learning to sail. The centerboard configuration allows for adjustable draft, reducing it to 0.49 feet for easy beaching or shallow exploration, and extending it to 3.0 feet for improved upwind performance.

Accommodations and Layout

Given its compact dimensions of just over 13 feet in length and a beam of 4.79 feet, the Jouet Kid is primarily designed as a day sailor with extremely limited, if any, enclosed accommodations. Information regarding specific interior layouts or headroom for the Kid is not readily available through general searches, and the provided specifications do not list maximum headroom. It is characteristic for boats of this size to offer, at most, a small cuddy cabin forward for basic storage or shelter from the elements rather than a full interior layout with dedicated sleeping berths, galley, or head facilities. The focus of its design would have been on maximizing the open cockpit area for sailing and crew comfort during short excursions.