Design and Construction
Columbia mass-produced the 5.5 using fiberglass, a then-new material that made the boat considerably lighter than its wooden contemporaries anchor. The manufacturer described the molded fiberglass hull as one of the most sophisticated racing yachts in the country, and the builder claimed it as a one-design racing sloop and daysailor for the discriminating yachtsman anchor. At 32'5" overall with a 22'7" waterline, the boat carries 4,500 pounds of displacement against 2,800 pounds of lead ballast on a 6'3" beam and 4'4" draft. Vertical clearance runs 39 feet from the waterline, and the fractional sloop rig carries 311 square feet of sail. The same hull served the open-cockpit 5.5 racer/daysailer and the raised-deck Sabre with bunks for four, though the Sabre proved the more prolific of the pair.
Rig and Handling
The 5.5 was the open cockpit racer/daysailer of the Columbia early range, and the builder claimed it performed with the same speed and characteristics as the International 5.5 anchor. That is a meaningful assertion given the source design: Carina and the Minotaur-influenced modifications were drawn from boats that had won Olympic and Scandinavian honors, and the fiberglass construction shed weight against the custom wood fleet. The one-design premise meant identical hulls racing to a common rule, and the 311-square-foot rig on a 22'7" waterline suggests a lively, easily driven platform rather than a cruising load-carrier.
Accommodations
The 5.5 itself was an open cockpit racer/daysailer with no cabin accommodations of its own; the Sabre used the identical hull with a raised deck, cabin, and bunks for four anchor. Owners who wanted shelter and sleeping space bought the Sabre, while the 5.5 stayed true to the daysailing and one-design racing brief. The flush deck and teardrop hull were styling and performance choices, not cruising compromises.
Known Issues
The 5.5's central historical problem was not structural but regulatory. Columbia wanted a boat ready when fiberglass was approved for the 5.5 Meter class and tooled up accordingly, showing the design at the New York Boat Show, but the class declined to approve fiberglass construction, leaving Columbia with an orphan model anchor. The International 5.5 Meter Class banned these lighter designs at least initially, and Columbia's attempt to sell the boats as one designs and daysailers did not work anchor. Fewer than 50 hulls were produced before the 5.5 and Sabre left the Columbia lineup by 1969, and the design was all but mothballed by the builder until fairly recently.
The Verdict
The Columbia 5.5 is a fascinating footnote in American fiberglass history: a genuine Olympic-lineage racing hull rendered commercially stranded by a class rule that never arrived. Its Herburn-and-O'Day-derived shape and light fiberglass build made it a sharp daysailer and one-design prospect, but the ban and the failed marketing left it rare. For the right owner it offers a unique, historically significant racer; for most, the companion Sabre's cabin makes more practical sense.
Pros
- Direct hull lineage from a 1956 Olympic and 1958 Gold Cup 5.5 Meter design
- Light fiberglass construction against custom wood contemporaries
- True one-design racing sloop with documented speed parity claim to the International 5.5
Cons
- Orphaned by the 5.5 Meter class's refusal to approve fiberglass
- Fewer than 50 built; limited class support and parts commonality
- Open cockpit only — no accommodations without the Sabre variant
