Jouet 550 Buyer's Guide
The Jouet 550 on the used market is an 18-foot Micro-class pocket cruiser built from 1979 to 1984, with 154 hulls produced under Jean Berret's design for Yachting France. She is a trailerable, shallow-draft weekender whose quirks matter more than her cosmetics when you inspect one. No regional sales data is available, so buyers should judge each boat on its own condition and history rather than on assumed availability.
Layouts on the Used Market
The standard 550 carries berths described variously as four — two singles on the settee planks and a double forward — or two in another account, and headroom is a tight 1.20 m. The yard built her with no cockpit lockers, no anchor locker, and no external safes, so storage is almost nonexistent as delivered. A few boats were later upgraded with a kitchenette and chart table, and those add-ons are worth noting because they signal an owner who invested in livability rather than a bare shell.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Given the bare original spec, the meaningful upgrades cluster around stability and power. A low-placed battery in the bilge is desirable to keep the boat settled, and anchoring requires two 25 kg sows set either side of the centreboard trunk — a buyer should confirm those are present or budget for them. The keel lifts by a trailer winch from inside, so a functioning winch and trunk are central to trailering. Beyond that, the "S" version with an 80 cm taller mast existed on only two hulls and is a rarity rather than a common find.
What to Inspect
The keel can badly score the centreboard well, so examine that area closely keel scoring the well. The drift and sponge guide were moulded in before decking and are effectively not removable, meaning any damage there is a structural repair, not a swap. Most important, the 85 kg cast-iron board rises above the waterline when lifted and can capsize the boat in dry, unpowered conditions capsize when board raised; verify the centreboard mechanism and any added ballast or battery placement that mitigates this. A noted lack of keel stability should be weighed against how and where you intend to sail.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
With no regional data supplied, treat the 550 as a boat you find by patience rather than by market saturation. For a buyer, the short checklist is: confirm the centreboard well is not scored, check that the non-removable appendages are sound, verify the lifting winch and two sows for anchoring, and accept the bare interior or budget for a kitchenette and chart table. She is a light, cheap Micro for the sailor who values shallow draft and a big rig over creature comforts.