Calife 23 Sailboats for Sale & Market Overview

Hull type

Monohull · fin

Rig

Masthead Sloop

LOA

22.97' · 7 m

Displ.

3,527 lbs · 1,600 kg

First year

1969

The Calife 23, produced by the French shipyard Jouët (under the Yachting France umbrella) during the mid1970s, represents a pivotal era in the democratization of coastal cruising. Designed by the prolific naval architect Philippe Harlé, the Calife 23 was conceived as a "grand petit bateau"—a large small boat—aimed at families transitioning from dayboats to overnight coastal voyaging. It occupies a specific niche in French yachting history, succeeding the popular but more spartan Jouët Sheriff and preceding the more modern Jouët 24. The Calife 23 was built with a robust fiberglass hull that prioritized stability and volume over pure racing speed, making it a staple of French marinas for decades. While technical data from the era is often confined to physical archives, historical records from Voiles et Voiliers indicate that the boat was marketed as a seaworthy vessel capable of handling the choppy conditions of the English Channel and the Atlantic coast.