light displacement sailboats

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Email This Page to a Friend Preview: What About a Sailboat’s Displacement? Doug Hylan Discusses Light and Heavy

April 5, 2013

A mong the dockside pundits, the discussion of light vs. heavy displacement usually revolves around the ability of a cruising sailboat to carry the necessary provisions and gear for extended cruising. I would like to consider the question from another angle: appearance and cost.

L ight displacement boats have some real advantages. Up to a certain point, lighter displacement saves money, both in initial cost and continuing expenses. Cy Hamlin pioneered this idea with his Controversy yachts produced at Mt. Desert Yacht Yard in the 1960s. Many people are surprised to learn that boats, like meat, tend to cost by the pound, not the foot. Compared to a heavy displacement 40-foot sailboat, a lighter boat of the same length will require smaller sails, lighter rigging, smaller ground tackle, a smaller engine, and less ballast.

U nder many conditions, lighter boats can also be faster. For one thing, they can cheat the devil of hull speed, even plane if they are very light and have the proper hull shape. This was one reason that MARY ANN, the first Barnegat Bay A Cat, was able to sweep aside the older heavier competition on the bay, even though they sported vastly bigger sail plans.

N at Herreshoff, the Wizard of Bristol, took advantage of both of these factors. One of the many facets of his wizardliness was his intuitive feel for light, stiff and strong construction. His boats generally had lighter structure than the competition, making them both cheaper to build and faster under sail. Even when a rating rule demanded that boats be of a certain displacement, lighter construction meant that more of that weight could be put into ballast. Ballast is not only one of the cheapest components per pound in a boat, but a greater proportion of ballast increases stability, meaning that the boat can stand up to more wind before reefing.

A esthetics, however, is one area where lighter boats have trouble competing. While they may not be able to enumerate the reasons, most people will admit that older boats tend to look more graceful and appealing than their modern sisters. Although several factors are involved, a major one is freeboard, or the amount of hull that shows above the waterline. Older boats generally have less, and just as with cars, lower and sleeker usually looks better.

I n the world of boat design numbers (called hydrostatics), the relative “lightness” or “heaviness” of a boat is defined by its displacement/length ratio, usually abbreviated as D/L. I’ll spare you the formula, but keep in mind that this is a dimensionless number – in other words, it makes no difference if the boat is a dinghy or an ocean liner. If her D/L is 400 she is considered to be in the heavy displacement realm. If the D/L is 150, she is pretty light.

W hy do lighter boats tend to be higher sided? Archimedes who purportedly jumped out of his tub and ran naked through the streets of ancient Syracuse shouting “Eureka!” is credited with the answer. The heavier a boat is, the more there is of it under water. The more there is under water, the less of it there needs to be above water to get the same amount of headroom.

C onsider the two boats shown below, one an old style heavy cruiser (D/L 400), the other a modern light displacement sister (D/L 150). Both boats have an overall length of 33′, a waterline length of 28 feet and a draft of 5 1/2 feet. They both have the same 6-foot headroom, but the cabin sole of the lighter boat must be much higher, so either the topsides or the cabin (usually both) has to be moved up to get the same headroom.

S o, tall people who are unwilling to bump their heads (or bend over to avoid it) can be the ruination of good looks in small, light displacement boats. Daysailers, where headroom is not considered essential, are generally immune to this problem, and once a yacht gets to 60 or so feet in length, there is plenty of height in either type for homo erects.

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My Cruiser Life Magazine

Basics of Sailboat Hull Design – EXPLAINED For Owners

There are a lot of different sailboats in the world. In fact, they’ve been making sailboats for thousands of years. And over that time, mankind and naval architects (okay, mostly the naval architects!) have learned a thing or two.

If you’re wondering what makes one sailboat different from another, consider this article a primer. It certainly doesn’t contain everything you’d need to know to build a sailboat, but it gives the novice boater some ideas of what goes on behind the curtain. It will also provide some tips to help you compare different boats on the water, and hopefully, it will guide you towards the sort of boat you could call home one day.

Table of Contents

Displacement hulls, semi displacement hulls, planing hulls, history of sailboat hull design, greater waterline length, distinctive hull shape and fin keel designs, ratios in hull design, the hull truth and nothing but the truth, sail boat hull design faqs.

Basics of Hull Design

When you think about a sailboat hull and how it is built, you might start thinking about the shape of a keel. This has certainly spurred a lot of different designs over the years, but the hull of a sailboat today is designed almost independently of the keel. 

In fact, if you look at a particular make and model of sailboat, you’ll notice that the makers often offer it with a variety of keel options. For example, this new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey comes with either a full fin bulb keel, shallow draft bulb fin, or very shallow draft swing keel. Where older long keel designs had the keel included in the hull mold, today’s bolt-on fin keel designs allow the manufacturers more leeway in customizing a yacht to your specifications.

What you’re left with is a hull, and boat hulls take three basic forms.

• Displacement hull
• Semi-displacement hulls
• Planing hulls

Most times, the hull of a sailboat will be a displacement hull. To float, a boat must displace a volume of water equal in weight to that of the yacht. This is Archimedes Principle , and it’s how displacement hulled boats get their name.

The displacement hull sailboat has dominated the Maritimes for thousands of years. It has only been in the last century that other designs have caught on, thanks to advances in engine technologies. In short, sailboats and sail-powered ships are nearly always displacement cruisers because they lack the power to do anything else.

A displacement hull rides low in the water and continuously displaces its weight in water. That means that all of that water must be pushed out of the vessel’s way, and this creates some operating limitations. As it pushes the water, water is built up ahead of the boat in a bow wave. This wave creates a trough along the side of the boat, and the wave goes up again at the stern. The distance between the two waves is a limiting factor because the wave trough between them creates a suction. 

This suction pulls the boat down and creates drag as the vessel moves through the water. So in effect, no matter how much power is applied to a displacement hulled vessel, it cannot go faster than a certain speed. That speed is referred to as the hull speed, and it’s a factor of a boat’s length and width. 

For an average 38 foot sailboat, the hull speed is around 8.3 knots. This is why shipping companies competed to have the fastest ship for many years by building larger and larger ships.

While they might sound old-school and boring, displacement hulls are very efficient because they require very little power—and therefore very little fuel—to get them up to hull speed. This is one reason enormous container ships operate so efficiently. 

Of course, living in the 21st century, you undoubtedly have seen boats go faster than their hull speed. Going faster is simply a matter of defeating the bow wave in one way or another.

One way is to build the boat so that it can step up onto and ride the bow wave like a surfer. This is basically what a semi-displacement hull does. With enough power, this type of boat can surf its bow wave, break the suction it creates and beat its displacement hull speed.

With even more power, a boat can leave its bow wave in the dust and zoom past it. This requires the boat’s bottom to channel water away and sit on the surface. Once it is out of the water, any speed is achievable with enough power. 

But it takes enormous amounts of power to get a boat on plane, so planing hulls are hardly efficient. But they are fast. Speedboats are planing hulls, so if you require speed, go ahead and research the cost of a speedboat . 

The most stable and forgiving planing hull designs have a deep v hull. A very shallow draft, flat bottomed boat can plane too, but it provides an unforgiving and rough ride in any sort of chop.

If you compare the shapes of the sailboats of today with the cruising boat designs of the 1960s and 70s, you’ll notice that quite a lot has changed in the last 50-plus years. Of course, the old designs are still popular among sailors, but it’s not easy to find a boat like that being built today.

Today’s boats are sleeker. They have wide transoms and flat bottoms. They’re more likely to support fin keels and spade rudders. Rigs have also changed, with the fractional sloop being the preferred setup for most modern production boats.

Why have boats changed so much? And why did boats look so different back then?

One reason was the racing standards of the day. Boats in the 1960s were built to the IOR (International Offshore Rule). Since many owners raced their boats, the IOR handicaps standardized things to make fair play between different makes and models on the racecourse.

The IOR rule book was dense and complicated. But as manufacturers started building yachts, or as they looked at the competition and tried to do better, they all took a basic form. The IOR rule wasn’t the only one around . There were also the Universal Rule, International Rule, Yacht Racing Association Rul, Bermuda Rule, and a slew of others. 

Part of this similarity was the rule, and part of it was simply the collective knowledge and tradition of yacht building. But at that time, there was much less distance between the yachts you could buy from the manufacturers and those setting off on long-distance races.

Today, those wishing to compete in serious racing a building boat’s purpose-built for the task. As a result, one-design racing is now more popular. And similarly, pleasure boats designed for leisurely coastal and offshore hops are likewise built for the task at hand. No longer are the lines blurred between the two, and no longer are one set of sailors “making do” with the requirements set by the other set. 

Modern Features of Sailboat Hull Design

So, what exactly sets today’s cruising and liveaboard boats apart from those built-in decades past? 

Today’s designs usually feature plumb bows and the maximum beam carried to the aft end. The broad transom allows for a walk-through swim platform and sometimes even storage for the dinghy in a “garage.”

The other significant advantage of this layout is that it maximizes waterline length, which makes a faster boat. Unfortunately, while the boats of yesteryear might have had lovely graceful overhangs, their waterline lengths are generally no match for newer boats. 

The wide beam carried aft also provides an enormous amount of living space. The surface area of modern cockpits is nothing short of astounding when it comes to living and entertaining.

If you look at the hull lines or can catch a glimpse of these boats out of the water, you’ll notice their underwater profiles are radically different too. It’s hard to find a full keel design boat today. Instead, fin keels dominate, along with high aspect ratio spade rudders. 

The flat bottom boats of today mean a more stable boat that rides flatter. These boats can really move without heeling over like past designs. Additionally, their designs make it possible in some cases for these boats to surf their bow waves, meaning that with enough power, they can easily achieve and sometimes exceed—at least for short bursts—their hull speeds. Many of these features have been found on race boats for decades.

There are downsides to these designs, of course. The flat bottom boats often tend to pound when sailing upwind , but most sailors like the extra speed when heading downwind.

How Do You Make a Stable Hull

Ultimately, the job of a sailboat hull is to keep the boat afloat and create stability. These are the fundamentals of a seaworthy vessel. 

There are two types of stability that a design addresses . The first is the initial stability, which is how resistant to heeling the design is. For example, compare a classic, narrow-beamed monohull and a wide catamaran for a moment. The monohull has very little initial stability because it heels over in even light winds. That doesn’t mean it tips over, but it is relatively easy to make heel. 

A catamaran, on the other hand, has very high initial stability. It resists the heel and remains level. Designers call this type of stability form stability.

There is also secondary stability, or ultimate stability. This is how resistant the boat is to a total capsize. Monohull sailboats have an immense amount of ballast low in their keels, which means they have very high ultimate stability. A narrow monohull has low form stability but very high ultimate stability. A sailor would likely describe this boat as “tender,” but they would never doubt its ability to right itself after a knock-down or capsize.

On the other hand, the catamaran has extremely high form stability, but once the boat heels, it has little ultimate stability. In other words, beyond a certain point, there is nothing to prevent it from capsizing. 

Both catamarans and modern monohulls’ hull shapes use their beams to reduce the amount of ballast and weight . A lighter boat can sail fast, but to make it more stable, naval architects increase the beam to increase the form stability.

If you’d like to know more about how stable a hull is, you’ll want to learn about the Gz Curve , which is the mathematical calculation you can make based on a hull’s form and ultimate stabilities. 

How does a lowly sailor make heads or tails out of this? You don’t have to be a naval architect when comparing different designs to understand the basics. Two ratios can help you predict how stable a design will be .

The first is the displacement to length ratio . The formula to calculate it is D / (0.01L)^3 , where D is displacement in tons and L is waterline length in feet. But most sailboat specifications, like those found on  sailboatdata.com , list the D/L Ratio.

This ratio helps understand how heavy a boat is for its length. Heavier boats must move more water to make way, so a heavy boat is more likely to be slower. But, for the ocean-going cruiser, a heavy boat means a stable boat that requires much force to jostle or toss about. A light displacement boat might pound in a seaway, and a heavy one is likely to provide a softer ride.

The second ratio of interest is the sail area to displacement ratio. To calculate, take SA / (D)^0.67 , where SA is the sail area in square feet and D is displacement in cubic feet. Again, many online sites provide the ratio calculated for specific makes and models.

This ratio tells you how much power a boat has. A lower ratio means that the boat doesn’t have much power to move its weight, while a bigger number means it has more “get up and go.” Of course, if you really want to sail fast, you’d want the boat to have a low displacement/length and a high sail area/displacement. 

Multihull Sailboat Hulls

Multihull sailboats are more popular than ever before. While many people quote catamaran speed as their primary interest, the fact is that multihulls have a lot to offer cruising and traveling boaters. These vessels are not limited to coastal cruising, as was once believed. Most sizable cats and trimarans are ocean certified.

Both catamarans and trimaran hull designs allow for fast sailing. Their wide beam allows them to sail flat while having extreme form stability. 

Catamarans have two hulls connected by a large bridge deck. The best part for cruisers is that their big surface area is full of living space. The bridge deck usually features large, open cockpits with connecting salons. Wrap around windows let in tons of light and fresh air.

Trimarans are basically monohulls with an outrigger hull on each side. Their designs are generally less spacious than catamarans, but they sail even faster. In addition, the outer hulls eliminate the need for heavy ballast, significantly reducing the wetted area of the hulls. 

Boaters and cruising sailors don’t need to be experts in yacht design, but having a rough understanding of the basics can help you pick the right boat. Boat design is a series of compromises, and knowing the ones that designers and builders take will help you understand what the boat is for and how it should be used. 

What is the most efficient boat hull design?

The most efficient hull design is the displacement hull. This type of boat sits low in the water and pushes the water out of its way. It is limited to its designed hull speed, a factor of its length. But cruising at hull speed or less requires very little energy and can be done very efficiently. 

By way of example, most sailboats have very small engines. A typical 40-foot sailboat has a 50 horsepower motor that burns around one gallon of diesel every hour. In contrast, a 40-foot planing speedboat may have 1,000 horsepower (or more). Its multiple motors would likely be consuming more than 100 gallons per hour (or more). Using these rough numbers, the sailboat achieves about 8 miles per gallon, while the speedboat gets around 2 mpg.

What are sail boat hulls made of?

Nearly all modern sailboats are made of fiberglass. 

Traditionally, boats were made of wood, and many traditional vessels still are today. There are also metal boats made of steel or aluminum, but these designs are less common. Metal boats are more common in expedition yachts or those used in high-latitude sailing.

Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Offshore sailboat choices

Editor’s note: There are many types of hull design, rig configuration and material choices for offshore sailboats. We talked to four voyaging couples and asked them about the pros and cons of the choice they made when they decided on a voyaging boat.

Rich and Cat Ian-Frese Tayana 37 Anna Rich and Cat Ian-Frese left Seattle after an 11-year refit of their Tayana 37 cutter, Anna . They started out heading in the general direction of South America, where they eventually took a right turn and crossed the South Pacific. They have refit, cruised and lived aboard Anna since 2000.

Rich has a background in research engineering and spent many years working on research grants in emerging laser technologies. He has worked as a project director on R&D projects for the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation and NASA. Cat spent over 20 years teaching elementary school, including special education.

Ocean Navigator: Why did you decide to voyage in a heavy-displacement boat? Rich and Cat Ian-Frese: My wife and I decided to voyage in a full-keel (with cutaway forefront) heavy-displacement monohull, a Tayana 37 cutter rig, because it has a comfortable and easy motion in the ocean. It feels solid and stable and safe in big waves, even in big confused waves — although the comfort factor is noticeably reduced in big confused waves, as it would be on any vessel in rough seas where the waves are big, short-spaced and coming from multiple directions. This will cause bashing into a headwind and heavy, lumpy rolling dead downwind. In our opinion, a heavier displacement vessel will absorb getting knocked around better than a light-displacement monohull.

ON: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of offshore boat? R&CI-F: The advantages of a heavy-displacement monohull, like the Tayana 37 cutter, are a very stable and comfortable ride in normal ocean conditions. The Tayana 37 has modest initial stability for a moderately heavy displacement boat, and it will comfortably heel over initially to dig in and pick up speed and add to its waterline length. And then its secondary stability kicks in, which is effective in keeping you sailing at a comfortable heeling angle. We’ve never felt the heeling angle to be unsafe, even in big rolling seas.

We don’t feel that there is any significant disadvantage to a heavy-displacement boat that is used for ocean voyaging, unless speed is your priority. We’ve never been in a situation where not being able to outrun bad weather resulted in a bad outcome. We think that it would be advantageous at times to attain a knot of speed for every knot of wind, like some fast monohulls and catamarans we know of, but we’re happy to slip along at 4 to 7 knots. It seems less stressful on the boat and rig, and less stressful on the crew as well, especially when conditions deteriorate. Besides, we like being on the ocean and don’t place a lot of emphasis on getting from point A to point B in record-setting time. But that’s just us; we can certainly see how hull speeds of 10 to 20 knots can be appealing when you actually have a chance to get ahead of a forecast bad weather system or have simply just had enough rolling on a 3,000-mile passage.

Many heavy-displacement vessels are full keeled. And while a full-keeled monohull like the Tayana 37 has advantages on the ocean — like righting itself quickly if rolled in heavy seas, and having an easy motion in normal seas, an excellent balance of primary and secondary stability, and a modest turn of speed — there is perhaps a disadvantage in close-quarters work.

In marinas where getting into a Travelift dock or a fuel dock involves backing up in a straight line in windy conditions or in a strong current, maneuverability can be a challenge. We could never back up our Tayana 37 down a narrow fairway and expect to end up exactly where we want to go. It’s not in the nature of the Tayana 37. Bow thrusters are, of course, an option, but we didn’t have thrusters on our boat. Many other boats with long keels, other than the Tayana 37, are simply bad when the transmission is thrown into reverse. Occasionally, we are lucky and the wind and current help us along. But generally the less distance we need to go in reverse, the better. Normal docking and turning in narrow fairways is fine. Just don’t expect consistently perfect results in reverse gear in a heavier breeze or fast-running current with some full-keel boats.

We had a Pearson 30 a long time ago. It had a light displacement and a spade rudder. It could turn on a dime and back down a long narrow fairway in almost any conditions. But there are tradeoffs with any boat. We would never think of taking that vessel on a long ocean voyage with its unprotected rudder. When most of your time is spent on longer passages in unpredictable conditions, a good stable boat that you have complete confidence in when the weather goes south is most important.

ON: For voyagers considering a heavy-displacement sailboat, what advice would you give? R&CI-F: We wouldn’t hesitate to sail a heavy-displacement boat. Personally, we’d feel more secure in conditions that were other than ideal. A heavy-displacement monohull doesn’t guarantee comfort in heavy weather, but it will buffer the ride and offer a degree of stability and security that you may feel is lacking in a light-displacement boat. If you want speed and comfort running downwind in the South Pacific, then a catamaran might be right for you. There are light-displacement catamarans and also moderately heavy displacement oceangoing catamarans about 48 to 50 feet in length that could take you just about anywhere that a shorter, stout, heavy-displacement monohull could. We choose the Tayana 37 cutter for its ruggedness in the ocean. It’s comfortable for a short-handed crew to operate, it’s economical at 37 feet and it has never let us down when in heavier ocean conditions over the past 20 years. It’s utilitarian. You might call it the Jeep of sailboats.

Phil and Lynda Christieson Kauri ketch Windora Phil and Lynda Christieson from New Zealand have owned and cruised extensively on Windora , a 43-foot Kauri ketch, for the last 26 years. They circumnavigated with their two sons in the ‘90s and are now completing a six-year cruise in the higher latitudes.

Ocean Navigator: Why did you decide to voyage in a wooden-hulled boat? Phil and Lynda Christieson: When we went looking for a cruising yacht, we were extremely lucky to find Windora , a proven offshore vessel, within our budget. Coming from New Zealand, where wooden boats are built from far superior materials, there was never any question that a wooden boat was inferior, and we learned very quickly that we had an exceptional boat. Being of wood construction, the interior is a piece of artwork, leaving you in no doubt that you are on a real boat, not a floating caravan.

ON: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of offshore boat? P&LC: Windora is a composite wooden boat, strip-planked with a heavy layer of epoxy glass fiber. This creates a high-strength, totally dry hull. It provides the most comfortable environment to live in, both in tropical and high-latitude climates. Repairs and maintenance can be done in the most remote places with easily available materials. There are large areas of the planet where you are treated differently because you sail a wooden boat. You are not just another white plastic boat; you stand out in the crowd. A traditionally planked wooden boat cannot be left on the hardstand for extended periods.

ON: For voyagers considering a wooden-hulled sailboat, what advice would you give? P&LC: First choice would be wood-composite construction, which lets you use two-part urethane paint systems, allows for minimum maintenance, and gives you the advantage of being able to store the boat ashore in the most extreme climates. You need to ensure the surveyor has a good understanding of wooden boats, as they are the most complex in construction of all the materials. A poorly built wooden boat can be hugely expensive to put right. Never touch any wooden vessel with iron fastenings in it.

Dave and Sherry McCampbell St. Francis 44 catamaran Soggy Paws Dave and Sherry McCampbell left Florida in May 2007 and headed west across the Pacific via the Panama Canal. They spent eight years getting across in their 1980 CSY 44 monohull. By 2015, they were ready for a faster boat and switched to a 2005 St. Francis 44 MK II catamaran. After four years exploring much of eastern Southeast Asia and a number of significant modifications, they now have the perfect cruising home.

Ocean Navigator: Why did you decide to voyage in a multihull? Dave and Sherry McCampbell: We are full-time international cruisers. There were many reasons we switched from our 1980 CSY 44 monohull to our 2005 St. Francis 44 catamaran. But the bottom line is that it was better suited to our increasing age and desire for more safety, more comfort and less maintenance. Below are the most important reasons to us that we switched. These mirror some of the most important advantages and disadvantages of a catamaran versus a monohull.

ON: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of offshore boat? D&SM: Here are what we see as the main advantages.

Level sailing: Cats sail relatively flat, so there is far less fatigue on a passage. Because of this, we can finally read and do computer work most of the time underway. That was rarely possible on the CSY monohull while rolling along at a 10- to 15-degree heel. This is really important for full-time cruisers and not well understood by the monohull cruising community. See the Navy study from a few years ago on page 24 of my presentation link below.

Layout: There is typically about 40 percent more room on a modern cat than on a monohull of similar length. A cat layout is much more cruising-friendly, with daily living, navigation and watch-standing areas up, and bunks, storage, heads and mechanical spaces down. The main saloon and cockpit are on the same level, so there’s no need for a ladder transit between them. It is also easier to access multiple storage lockers along the sides of two hulls instead of one, or searching for things under bunks and in the bilges.

Two engines: Modern cats generally have better speed and fuel economy while motoring. Motoring at 5 knots with one small engine properly loads up the engine and uses roughly half the diesel we used to use with the CSY. That means we can carry roughly half the fuel we used to carry for a 1,200-nm range. Two engines also means a full spare parts inventory is always on board, and there is no drama if one should develop a problem needing repair at sea.

Maintenance: The newer boat and more room mean generally easier maintenance for electrical and mechanical equipment. No teak on deck means no varnish work ever! A more modern rig makes rigging work and sail handling easier.

Unsinkability: Many modern cats won’t sink regardless of damage, due to a thick foam-cored hull, waterproof crash compartments and lack of lead keel. Our cat has a 1.25-inch foam-cored hull and deck, and is advertised as non-sinking unless really overloaded. That is a really comforting feeling while underway in deep water hundreds of miles from land. We think staying aboard is a better option than having to abandon ship into a life raft.

Stability: Cats have better stability at anchor, in a seaway or riding to a sea anchor. Little rolling means better sleep at night. It also means most things left on counters and tables will stay put underway in reasonable conditions. Availability of strong, wide bridle attachment points at the ends of the forward crossbeam reduce yawing and therefore ground tackle loads.

Speed: Most comparisons I have read indicate about a 20 percent speed increase on long passages. We rarely want to go more than about 8 knots, and we start reefing at about 7 knots. This compares to reefing at 6 knots on the CSY. We are comfortable at 7 to 8 knots on the cat. In the open sea, we consider anything more than about 9 knots uncomfortable due to increased boat motion and rig loads.

Sail handling: Wide, flat decks with little roll mean safer sail handling and reefing at sea. The jib is relatively small compared to the main, so it is easier to handle than on most monohulls. Also, no pole is required for downwind sails or a spinnaker.

Dinghy storage: Cats offer much safer and more convenient dinghy storage if lifted on high davits aft between the hulls. Typically, modern cats allow the dinghy (with motor on) to be taken out of the water easily and launched quickly. There is no need to remove the outboard and store the dinghy on the foredeck before making a passage.

Draft: The cat’s shallow draft gives many more anchoring options. This is especially important if looking for that mangrove-lined, unoccupied tropical cyclone hole. The ability to do a free haulout for repairs or a bottom paint touch-up on a beach is a huge advantage. It is easy to do on many beaches with just a few feet of tide.

Most of the monohull vs. catamaran comparisons, as well as catamaran features, are well covered in our PowerPoint presentation, “ Evaluating Modern Catamarans ,” available on our website.

ON: For voyagers considering a multihull, what advice would you give? D&SM: There is no perfect catamaran with all the features you may want, so be prepared to compromise somewhat. However, knowing what works and what does not for the cruising you plan to do is important. Be sure to research this carefully before starting to look for a cat.

With the number of catamarans being produced on the rise, there are many designs to choose from. However, not all are created equal. Although most cruisers spend 90 percent of the time in port, due consideration should also be given to features that enhance safety and comfort at sea. Most catamarans are optimized for tropics cruising and are probably not the best choices for high-latitude voyaging.

There is plenty here to consider before purchasing a cruising catamaran. Much more is on the Internet. Many modern cats are built for the lucrative charter trade and may have features that don’t work well for full-time bluewater cruising. Some of these can be corrected or improved, some cannot. Be suspicious of exaggerated dealer claims, ask for proof of anything that doesn’t seem right, and ask specific questions. Consider making a list of what to look for before going shopping.

As with almost all cat owners I’ve talked to now that we have made the switch to the “enlightened side,” we would never go back.

David Content & Roslyn Stewart Aluminum sloop Barefoot David Content and Roslyn Stewart have been sailing their boat, Barefoot , in the Pacific for eight years. Roslyn has previously sailed in Papua New Guinea and northern Europe. David has sailed extensively in the North and South Pacific. 

Ocean Navigator: Why did you decide to voyage in an aluminum boat? David Content & Roslyn Stewart: My present voyaging sailboat is Barefoot , a 43-foot aluminum boat designed by Angelo Lavranos and built by Dearden Marine. I chose an aluminum boat after having already sailed more than 50,000 ocean miles in an excellent 36-foot, IOR-design fiberglass boat. Most influential in the decision was wanting a solid, strong boat that was still reasonably lightweight and would withstand the stresses and wetness experienced for weeks at a time on offshore passages.

I learned from cruisers sailing metal boats that they did not develop leaky chain plates, slack stays and shrouds, water intrusion in the rudder, loose keel bolts or squeaky interior liners at the bulkheads, even after thousands of ocean miles. For me, an aluminum boat was a better choice than steel because steel boats require a watertight paint coating on all metal surfaces. I wanted to avoid the paint maintenance, and I desired the lighter weight of an aluminum fabrication.

ON: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of offshore boat? DC&RS: An aluminum boat is difficult to paint and doesn’t need it above the waterline. On Barefoot , the unpainted topsides are gray and protected by a naturally developing oxide coating. Some sailors perceive this as an advantage, while others prefer to paint the topsides for cosmetic purposes.

An obvious advantage of aluminum is that the robust cleats, chocks, handrails, stanchion sockets, chain plates, anchor rollers and genoa track bases are all permanently welded directly on the deck. In addition to being extremely strong, no potentially leaky deck penetrations exist. Inside the boat, aluminum frames and stringers serve as solid attachment bases for the interior handrails, autopilot ram, steering cable sheaves, and the generator and watermaker mounts.

Non-obvious advantages of an insulated aluminum boat are numerous. One example is that the insulated hull pulls the cabin and bilge temperature toward the water temperature rather than the air temperature. This means in the tropics we’re able to stow fruit and veggies in the cool bilge, and that no deck canopy is needed to keep the cabin cool, even in the tropical sun. Conversely, when sailing at high latitudes, the water temperature is warmer than the air and that keeps the boat naturally warmer.

Two disadvantages of aluminum boats are the cost of construction and the watchfulness required to avoid corrosion problems. Well-built aluminum boats are more expensive than production fiberglass sailboats. Aluminum fabrication costs are based on the material expense of proper aluminum alloys for hull plating, frames and stringers, and on labor costs for skilled aluminum welders. The construction process is more labor intensive than fiberglass boats.

Potential corrosion sources in aluminum boats are well understood by builders these days. Following best practices in electrical wiring and equipment isolation from the hull eliminates most corrosion risks. An aluminum boat owner can prevent corrosion by learning a few unique requirements. For example, an isolation transformer must be wired in the boat if connected to shore power; a charcoal filter must be used when filling an aluminum water tank from a city chlorinated water supply; never moor the aluminum boat next to a steel boat; never use chlorine cleaners for anything (use vinegar); and always have installed and regularly check an LED light indicating a fault from a connection between the hull and the positive or negative side of the battery.

ON: What is your advice for voyagers considering an aluminum vessel? DC&RS: They should follow the same process as with the considered purchase of any boat: Talk to sailors who have a similar boat, inspect as many aluminum boats as possible, and consider having a custom boat built by selecting a good naval architect and finding a small, experienced aluminum boatyard for the build.

By Ocean Navigator

The Olson 30: Ultra Light, Ultra Fast

The complete book of sailboat buying, volume ii, june, 1987.

by  Editors of the Practical Sailor

The first project for Pacific Boats was the Olson 30, which was put into production in 1978. Over 200 of these 3600-pound ULDBs were sold, and the builder claims they have gathered in sufficient numbers to support one-design racing in Seattle, the Great Lakes, Annapolis, Texas, and Long Island Sound, as well as several spots in California. Pacific Boats was a small firm that built only the Olson 30 and the Olson 40, both to quality standards.

CONSTRUCTION

Some people wonder how the ULDB can be built so light and still be seaworthy offshore. The answer lies in the fact that a light boat is subjected to much lighter loads than a heavy boat when pounding through a sea (there is tremendous saving in weight with a stripped-out interior). And perhaps more importantly, ULDB builders have construction standards that are well above average for production sailboats. The ULDB builders say that their close proximity to each other in Santa Cruz, combined with their open sharing of technology, has enabled them to achieve these high standards. The Olson 30 is no exception. The hull and deck are fiberglass, vacuumbagged over a balsa core. The process of vacuum-bagging insures maximum saturation of the laminate and core with a minimum of resin, making the hull light and stiff. The builder claims that -they have so refined the construction of the Olson 30 that each finished hull weighs within 10 pounds of the standard. The deck of the Olson does not have plywood inserts in place of the balsa where winches are mounted, instead relying on external backing plates for strength.

The hull to deck joint is an inward turned, overlapping flange, glued with a rigid compound called Reid’s adhesive, and mechanically fastened with closely spaced bolts through a slotted aluminum toerail. This provides a strong, protected joint, seaworthy-enough for sailing offshore. The aluminum toerail provides a convenient location for outboard sheet leads, but is painful for those sitting on the rail.

The Olson 30’s 1800-pound keel is deep (5′ 1″ draft) and less than five inches thick. Narrow, bolted-on keels need extra athwartship support. The Olson 30 accomplishes this with nine six-inch bolts, and one ten-inch bolt (to which the lifting eye is attached). The lead keel is faired·with polyester putty and then completely wrapped with fiberglass to seal the putty from the marine environment.

Too many builders neglect sealing autobody putty-faired keels, and too many boat owners then find the putty peeling off at a later date. The Olson’s finished keel is painted, and, on the boats we’ve seen, remarkably fair. The keel-stepped, single-spreader, tapered mast is cleanly rigged with 5/32-inch Navtec rod rigging and internal tangs. The mast section is large enough for peace of mind in heavy air. The halyards exit the mast at well-spaced intervals, to avoid creating a weak spot. The chainplates are securely attached to half-bulkheads of I-inch plywood. In addition, a tie-rod attaches the deck to the mast, tensioned by a turnbuckle. While this arrangement should provide adequate strength, we would prefer both a tie-rod and a full bulkhead that spans the width of the cabin to absorb the compressive loads that rig tension puts on the deck.

The rudder’s construction is labor-intensive but strong. Urethane foam is hand shaped to templates, then glued to a two-inch diameter solid fiberglass rudder post. The builder prefers fiberglass because it has more “memory” than aluminum or steel. Stainless steel straps are wrapped around the rudder and mechanically fastened to the post. Then the whole rudder assembly is faired, fiberglassed, and painted.

PERFORMANCE

Handling Under Sail

For those of you who agonize over whether your PHRF rating is fair, consider the ratings of ULDBs. The Santa Cruz 50 rates 0; that’s right, zero. The 67-foot Merlin has rated as low as minus 60. The Olson 30 rates anywhere from 90 to 114, depending on the local handicapper. Olson 30 owners tell us that the boat will sail to a PHRF rating of 96, but she will almost never sail to her astronomical lOR rating of 32 (the lOR heavily penalizes ULDBs). ULDBs are fast. They are apt to be on the tender side, and sail with a quick, “jerky” motion through waves. Instead of punching through waves, they ride over them. Owners tell us that they do far less cruising and far more racing than they had expected to do when they bought the boat. They say it’s more fun to race because the boat is so lively.

Like most ULDBs, the Olson 30 races best at the extremes of wind conditions-under 10 knots and over 20 knots. Although her masthead rig may appear short, it is more than powerful enough for her displacement. Owners tell us that she accelerates so quickly you can almost tack at will – a real tactical advantage in light air. In winds under 10 knots, they say she sails above her PHRF rating, both upwind and downwind. In moderate breezes it’s a different story. Once the wind gets much above 10 knots, it’s time to change down to the #2 genoa. In 15 knots, especially if the seas are choppy, it’s very difficult for the Olson 30 to save her time on boats of conventional displacement, according to three-time national champ Kevin Connally. The Olson 30 is always faster downwind, but even with a crew of 5 or 6, she just can’t hang in there upwind. In winds above 20 knots, the Olson 30 still has her problems upwind. But when she turns the weather mark the magic begins. As soon as she has enough wind to surf or plane, the Olson 30 can make up for all she looses upwind, and more. The builder claims that she has pegged speedometers at 25 knots in the big swells and strong westerlies off the coast of California. That is, of course, if the crew can keep her 1800-pound keel under her 761-square foot spinnaker. The key to competitiveness in a strong breeze is the ability of the crew. Top crews say that because she is so quick to respond, they have fewer problems handling her in heavy air. However, an inexperienced crew which cannot react quickly enough, can have big problems. “The handicappers say she can fly downwind, so they give us a low (PHRF) rating. But they don’t understand that we have sail slow, just to stay in control,” complained the crew of one new owner.

Like any higher performance class of sailboat, the Olson 30 attracts competent sailors. Hence, the boat is pushed to a higher level of overall performance, and the PHRF rating reflects this. An inexperienced sailor must realize that he may have a tougher time making her sail to this inflated rating than a boat that is less “hot.”

The two most common mistakes that new Olson 30 owners make are pinching upwind and allowing the boat to heel excessively. ULDBs cannot be sailed at the 30 degrees of heel to which many sailors of conventional boats are accustomed. To keep her flat, you must be quick to shorten sail, move the sheet leads outboard, and get more crew weight on the rail. You can’t afford to have a person sitting to leeward trimming the genoa in a 12-knot breeze. To keep her thin keel from stalling upwind, owners tell us it’s important to keep the sheets eased and the boat footing.

Being masthead-rigged, the Olson 30 needs a larger sail inventory than a fractionally rigged boat. Class rules allow one mainsail, six headsails (jibs and spinnakers) and a 75-percent storm jib. Owners who do mostly handicap racing tell us they often carry more than six headsails.

Handling Under Power

Only a few of the Olson 30s sold were equipped with inboard power. This is because the extra weight of the inboard and the drag of the propeller, strut and shaft are a real disadvantage when racing against the majority of Olson 30s, which are equipped with outboard motors. The Olson 30 is just barely light enough to be pushed by a four to five horsepower outboard. It takes a 7.5 horse outboard to push the Olson 30 at 6.5 knots in a flat calm. The Olson’s raked transom requires an extra long outboard bracket, which puts the engine throttle and shift out of reach for anyone much less than 6 feet tall: “A real pain,” said one owner. Storage is a problem, too. Even if you could get the outboard through the stern lazarette’s small hatch, you wouldn’t want to race with the extra weight so far aft. As a result, most owners end up storing the outboard on the cabin sole. The inboard was an optional, 154-pound, 7-horsepower, BMW diesel. Unlike most boats, the Olson 30 will probably never return the investment in an inboard when the boat is sold. It detracts from the boat’s primary purpose-­racing.

Without an inboard, owners have a problem charging the battery. Owners who race with extensive electronics have to take the battery ashore after every race for recharging. If the Olson 30 weren’t such a joy to sail in light air, and so maneuverable in tight places, the lack of inboard power would be a serious enough drawback to turn away more sailors than it does.

Deck Layout

In most respects, the Olson 30 is a good sea boat. Although the cockpit is 6-1/2 feet long, the wide seats and narrow floor result in a relatively small cockpit volume, so little sea water can collect in the cockpit if the boat is pooped or knocked down. However, foot room is restricted, while the width of the seats makes it awkward to brace your legs on the leeward seat. The seats themselves

There are gutters to drain water off the leeward seat. The long mainsheet traveler is mounted across the cockpit. The Olson 30’s single companionway dropboard is latchable from inside the cabin, a real necessity in a storm offshore. A man-overboard pole tube in the stern is standard equipment. Teak toerails on the cockpit combing and on the forward part of the cabin house provide good footing, and there are handholds on the after part of the cabin house. The tapered aluminum stanchions are set into sockets molded into the deck and glassed to the inside of the hull, a strong, clean, leak-proof system. However, the stanchions are not glued or mechanically fastened into the sockets. If pulled upwards with great force they can be pulled out. We feel this is a safety hazard. Tight lifelines would help prevent this from happening, but most racing crews tend to leave them slightly loose so they can lean further outboard when hanging over the rail upwind. If the stanchions were fastened into the sockets with bolts or screws they would undoubtedly leak. A leakproof solution to this problem should be devised and made available to Olson 30 owners. The cockpit has two drains of adequate diameter. The bilge pump, a Guzzler 500, is mounted in the cockpit. As is common on most boats, the stern lazarette is not sealed off from the rest of the interior. If the boat were pooped or knocked down with the lazarette open, water could rush below through the lazarette relatively unrestricted. As the Olson 30 has a shallow sump, there is little place for water to go except above the cabin sole. A “paint-roller” type non-skid is molded into the Olson 30’s deck It provides excellent traction, but it is more difficult to keep clean than conventional patterned non-skid.

The Olson 30 is well laid out with hardware of reasonable, but not exceptional, quality. All halyards and pole controls lead to the cockpit through Easylock 1 clutch stoppers. The Easylocks are barely big enough to hold the halyards; they slip an inch under heavy loads. Older Olsons were equipped with Howard Rope Clutches. The Howards had’ a history of breaking (although the manufacturer has now corrected the problem). The primary winches, Barient 22s, are also barely adequate. Some owners we talked to had replaced them with more powerful models. Schaefer headsail track cars are standard equipment. One owner complained that he had to replace them with Merrimans because the Schaefers kept slipping.

Leading the vang to either rail and leading the reefing lines aft is also recommended. The mast partner is snug, leaving no space for mast blocks. The mast step is movable to adjust the prebend of the spar. The partner has a lip, over which a neoprene collar fits. The collar is hose-clamped to the mast. This should make a watertight mast boot. However, on the boat we sailed, the bail to which the boom vang attached obstructed the collar, causing water to collect and drain into the cabin.

The yolked backstay is adjustable from either quarter of the stem, one side being a 2:1 gross adjustment and the other side being an 8:1 fine tune. A Headfoil II is standard equipment. There is a babystay led to a track with a 6:1purchase for easy adjustment. The track is tied to the thin plywood of the forward V -berth with a wire and a turnbuckle. On the boat we sailed, the padeye to which the babystay tie rod is attached was seen to be tearing out from the V-berth.

There is a port in the deck directly over the lifting eye in the bilge. This makes for quick and easy drysailing. The Olson 30, however, is not easily trailered; her 3600 pounds is too much for all but the largest cars, and her 9.3-foot beam requires a special trailering permit.

The Olson 30 is cramped belowdecks. Her low deckhouse and substantial sheer may make her one of the sexiest-looking production boats on the water, but the price is headroom of only four feet, five inches. There is not even enough headroom for comfortable stooping. Moving about below is a real grind for an average-sized person. To offset the confinement of the interior, the builder has done everything possible to make it light and airy. In addition to the Lexan forward hatch and cabin house windows, the companionway hatch also has a Lexan insert. The inside of the hull is smooth sanded and finished with white gelcoat. There are no full-height bulkheads dividing the cabin. All the furniture is built of lightweight, light-colored, 3/8″ Scandanavian, seven-ply plywood.

The joinerwork is above average and all of the bulkhead and furniture tabbing is extremely neat. There isn’t much to the Olson 30’s interior, but what there is has been done with commendable craftmanship. The cabin sole is narrow, and with the lack of headroom, the woodwork is susceptible to being dinged and scratched from equipment like outboard motors. Once the finish on the wood is broken, it quickly absorbs water, which collects in the shallow bilge. ‘

The Olson 30 is not a comfortable cruiser. Even after you’ve taken all the racing sails ashore, the belowdecks is barely habitable. To save weight the quarterberths are made of thin cushions sewn to vinyl and hung from pipes.These pipe berths are comfortable, but the cushions are not easily removed. Should they get wet it’s likely they would stay wet for some time. Two seabags are hung on sail tracks above the quarter berths, which should help to insure that some clothes stay dry.

Just forward of each quarterberth is a small uncushioned seat locker. Behind each seat is a small portable ice cooler. In one seat locker is the stove, an Origo 3000, which slides up and out of the locker on tracks. The Ongo is a top-of-theline unpressurized alcohol stove, but to operate it the cook must kneel on the cabin sole. To work at the navigation station, which is in front of the starboard seat, you must sit sideways. In front of the port seat is the lavette, with a hand water pump and a removable, shallow, drainless sink. Drainless sinks eliminate the need for a through-hull fitting-a good idea-but they should be deep, not shallow.

Although there are curtains which can be drawn across the V-berth, we think human dignity deserves an enclosed head, especially on a 30’ boat. The V-berth is large and easy to climb into, but there are no shelves above it or a storage locker in the empty bow. In short, if you plan to cruise for more than a weekend, you’d better like roughing it.

CONCLUSIONS

A completely equipped Olson 30 ran about $35,000. Today, a used one will cost from $24,000 to $28,000 ( note – this was written in 1987, prices are lower in 2015 ). What do you get for this? You get a boat that’s well built, seaworthy, and reasonably well laid out. You get a boat that, in light air, will sail as fast as boats costing nearly twice as much. Downwind in heavy air, you have a creature that will blow your mind and leave everything (except a bigger ULDB) in your wake. If you spend all of your sailing time racing in a PHRF fleet in an area where light or heavy air dominates, the Olson 30 will probably give you more pleasure for your dollar than almost anything afloat.

However, if you race in moderate air or enjoy more than an occasional short cruise, you are likely to be very disappointed. Before you consider the Olson 30, you must realistically evaluate your abilities as a sailor. There’s nothing worse, after finding out that you can’t race a boat to her potential, than realizing that she is of little use for any other aspect of our sport.

The Complete Book of Sailboat Buying, Volume II

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• Boat Displacement

Boat Displacement/Length Ratio & Other Key Performance Indicators

A boat's displacement is defined as the weight of the volume of water displaced by it when afloat. It's normally described in long tons (1 ton = 2,240 lbs) but it can also be stated in cubic feet, with 1 ft 3 = 64lb.

Like hullspeed, displacement doesn't mean much unless compared to waterline length,so you need to take a look at the Displacement/Length Ratio to compare the relative heaviness of boats no matter what their size.

Similarly, sail area doesn't tell you much about a boat's likely performance unless compared to its displacement, which is why we have the Sail Area/Displacement Ratio.

Let's take a look at both of these displacement related ratios in turn...

The Displacement/Length Ratio

Displacement/length categories:.

Under 90 -  Ultralight;

90 to 180  -  Light;

180 to 270  -  Moderate;

270 to 360  -  Heavy;

360 and over  -  Ultraheavy;

The formula for calculating the Displacement/Length Ratio is:

D/(0.01L) 3 , where...

• D is the boat displacement in tons (1 ton = 2,240lb), and 
• L is the waterline length in feet.

An ultra-light racing yacht may have a D/L Ratio of 80 or so, a light cruiser/racer would be around 140, a moderate displacement cruiser be around 230, a heavy displacement boat will be around 320 while a Colin Archer type super- heavy displacement cruiser may boast a D/L ratio of 400+.

As immersed volume and displacement are proportional, a heavy displacement yacht will have to heave aside a greater mass of water than its light displacement cousin.

Or put another way, the lower D/L Ratio vessel will have a lower resistance to forward motion than the higher D/L ratio vessel, and will be quicker as a result.

That's a longwinded way of saying that the greater the mass, the greater the power required to shift it.

That power is of course derived from the force of the wind acting upon the sails, and the greater the sail area the greater the power produced for a given wind strength.

A Few Examples...

The Sail Area/Displacement Ratio

The formula for calculating the Sail Area/Displacement Ratio is:

SA/(DISPL) 0.67 , where...

• SA is sail area in square feet, and
• DISPL is boat displacement in cubic feet

Clearly then, performance is a function of both power and weight, or sail area and displacement.

Sail Area/Displacement ratios range from around 14 for a lightly canvassed motor-sailor to 20 or so for an ocean racer.

Calculating Sail Area

Mainsail Area

Calculating the area of the mainsail is simple. After all, it's just a right-angled triangle so:

Area = (Base x Height)/2 = (Foot x Luff)/2

OK, it won't be spot on if the sail has some roach, but it'll be near enough. Having said that, for a fully-battened, heavily roached sail you could add 10 to 15% to be more accurate.

Foresail Area

The foresail would be just as easy if it exactly fitted the fore-triangle but usually the sail will be high-cut or will overlap the mast - or both.

So the calculation becomes:

Sail Area = (luff perpendicular x luff)/2

For more on this subject, take a look at Understanding Sail Dimensions...

A Final Word on Boat Displacement etc...

So to summarize, the criteria associated with good performance under sail are:

• Boat Displacement: the lower the better, as the power requirement is directly proportional to displacement. Provided, of course, that light displacement doesn't come at the cost of structural integrity;
• Waterline length: the longer the better, as wave-making resistance is inversely proportional to waterline length;
• Wetted area: the less the better, particularly in areas where light airs prevail, as hull drag is directly proportional to wetted area;
• Sail area: the more the better, within reason, as power production is directly proportional to sail area. Having to reef early is much less frustrating than wishing you had an extra metre or so on the mast when the wind falls away.
• For real 'Get Up and Go' a sailboat will have a low Displacement/Length ratio and a high Sail Area/Displacement Ratio .

But performance in an offshore cruising sailboat isn't just about speed. Whilst, as part of the deal for getting their hands on the silverware, a racing crew will cheerfully accept the high degree of attentiveness needed to keep a twitchy racing machine on her feet, a cruising sailor most definitely won't.

For us, a degree of speed will be readily sacrificed for a boat that's easy on the helm, and which rewards its crew with a gentler motion and more comfortable ride.

And whilst talking of comfort, Ted Brewer's  'Comfort Ratio'  has much to do with Boat Displacement.

You might like to take a look at these...

The Righting Moment Is a Key Factor to a Sailboat's Stability

Whilst it's the righting moment that influences a sailboat's static stability, it's the dynamic stability that has the larger affect on seaworthiness. And here's what it means to us

Importance of the Prismatic Coefficient in Sailboat Hull Design

The prismatic coefficient is associated with the fullness of fineness of the ends of a boat's hull, but why is this important and how does it affect performance?

Understanding Sailboat Design Ratios

The formulae for sailboat design ratios are quite complex, but with this tool the calculations are done for you in an instant!

How Gz Curves Reveal the Truth about A Sailboat's Stability

Gz curves are a graphic representation as to how a sailboat's righting moment changes with heel angle, identifying the heel angle at which the boat will capsize rather than come back upright

Some Sailboat Interiors are Not Suitable for Offshore Sailing

Examples of practical sailboat interiors that work for serious offshore sailing, compared with those that are more suited for coastal sailing and marina hopping

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Displacement

There are three main types of displacement. Which one is used in stating specifications is frequently a mystery, since designers and/ or builders and marketers seldom identify which type they are reporting. Hence, unfortunately, the type of displacement quoted in sales brochures and boat magazines varies, and this can cause confusion and hinder calculation of some performance parameters such as the D/L ratio (see next page).

Dry displacement, sometimes called light displacement, is the hull and rig weight excluding weight of crew, equipment, fuel and water, stores, outboard engine if any, and so on. This number is helpful in determining trailer-towing weight. However, "dry" displacement, if shown in brochures, may or may not include water ballast on boats that use that type of ballast.

Loaded or sailing displacement is the weight as equipped for sailing, including crew, equipment, fuel and water, stores, outboard engine if any, and so on.

Half-load displacement is a variation on loaded displacement, being the weight with normal crew and equipment, but with half-filled fuel and water tanks. In theory, either loaded or half-load displacement should be used for calculating various performance ratios such as B/D, SA/D, and D/L (see pages 9, 12, and 13).

Differences between displacement types can be substantial, particularly in small cruisers. For example, designer Charlie Wittholz specifies that the loaded displacement of the Cape Cod Cat 17 is 2,800 lbs. However, he suggests taking off two or three people and their gear, weighing approximately 600 lbs. in total, to obtain the boat's trailering, or dry displacement. Thus he estimates dry displacement at around 2,200 lbs.

But in reality, we believe most sales brochures use dry displacement as the measure of displacement for all purposes—and for lack of a better method of determining half-load or full displacement using our vast collection of sales brochures, we are stuck with using whatever displacement the sales brochures declare. Consequently, in this guide, the number reported is usually dry displacement. Typically, sailing magazines and books also use this same dry displacement to calculate SA/D and D/L ratios. Technically, this is incorrect, but for comparing one boat to another, if done consistently, no great injustice is done.

Even if displacement reported in sales brochures uses the correct definitions, the number can still be grossly in error. For example, in the original C&C Bluejacket 23 sales brochure, the displacement was erroneously listed as 6,000 pounds—much too high for a sleek racer-cruiser of that size. Later the number was amended, without explanation, to 4,000 pounds.

Continue reading here: Sail Area Displacement Ratio SAD

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Related Posts

• Ballast Displacement BD Ratio
• Catamaran Design Guide - Catamarans Guide
• Displacement Length Ratio DL
• LOD and LOA - Cruising Sailboats Reference

Readers' Questions

What boat builders use half load displacement?

Most boat builders use half-load displacement when calculating the displacement of a boat. This calculation is typically used to determine the weight of a boat's hull and the amount of ballast needed for a vessel to remain stable in the water. The displacement includes the weight of the boat transom and hull, plus the weight of the fuel, water, and occupants.

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40 Best Sailboats

• By Cruising World Editors
• Updated: April 18, 2019

Sailors are certainly passionate about their boats, and if you doubt that bold statement, try posting an article dubbed “ 40 Best Sailboats ” and see what happens.

Barely had the list gone live, when one reader responded, “Where do I begin? So many glaring omissions!” Like scores of others, he listed a number of sailboats and brands that we were too stupid to think of, but unlike some, he did sign off on a somewhat upbeat note: “If it weren’t for the presence of the Bermuda 40 in Cruising World’s list, I wouldn’t even have bothered to vote.”

By vote, he means that he, like hundreds of other readers, took the time to click through to an accompanying page where we asked you to help us reshuffle our alphabetical listing of noteworthy production sailboats so that we could rank them instead by popularity. So we ask you to keep in mind that this list of the best sailboats was created by our readers.

The quest to building this list all began with such a simple question, one that’s probably been posed at one time or another in any bar where sailors meet to raise a glass or two: If you had to pick, what’re the best sailboats ever built?

In no time, a dozen or more from a variety of sailboat manufacturers were on the table and the debate was on. And so, having fun with it, we decided to put the same question to a handful of CW ‘s friends: writers and sailors and designers and builders whose opinions we value. Their favorites poured in and soon an inkling of a list began to take shape. To corral things a bit and avoid going all the way back to Joshua Slocum and his venerable Spray —Hell, to Noah and his infamous Ark —we decided to focus our concentration on production monohull sailboats, which literally opened up the sport to anyone who wanted to get out on the water. And since CW is on the verge or turning 40, we decided that would be a nice round number at which to draw the line and usher in our coming ruby anniversary.

If you enjoy scrolling through this list, which includes all types of sailboats, then perhaps you would also be interested in browsing our list of the Best Cruising Sailboats . Check it out and, of course, feel free to add your favorite boat, too. Here at Cruising World , we like nothing better than talking about boats, and it turns out, so do you.

40. Moore 24

39. Pearson Vanguard

38. Dufour Arpege 30

37. Alerion Express 28

36. Mason 43/44

35. Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43DS

34. Nor’Sea 27

33. Freedom 40

32. Beneteau Sense 50

31. Nonsuch 30

30. Swan 44

29. C&C Landfall 38

28. Gulfstar 50

27. Sabre 36

26. Pearson Triton

25. Islander 36

24. Gozzard 36

23. Bristol 40

22. Tartan 34

21. Morgan Out Island 41

20. Hylas 49

19. Contessa 26

18. Whitby 42

17. Columbia 50

16. Morris 36

15. Hunter 356

13. Beneteau 423

12. Westsail 32

10. Alberg 30

9. Island Packet 38

8. Passport 40

7. Tayana 37

6. Peterson 44

5. Pacific Seacraft 37

4. Hallberg-Rassy 42

3. Catalina 30

2. Hinckley Bermuda 40

1. Valiant 40

• More: monohull , Sailboats
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This speedster is as specialized as it gets; mind-blowing performance, but almost no living space.

The Olson 30 is of a breed of sailboats born in Santa Cruz, California called the ULDB , an acronym for ultra light displacement boat. ULDBs are big dinghies—long on the waterline, short on the interior, narrow on the beam, and very light on both the displacement and the price tag. ULDBs attract a different kind of sailor—the type for whom performance means everything.

For some yachting traditionalists, the arrival of ULDB has been a hard pill to swallow. Part of this is simple resentment of a ULDB’s ability to sail boat for-boat with a racer-cruiser up to 15′ longer (and a whole lot more expensive). Part of it is the realization that, to sail a ULDB might mean having to learn a whole new set of sailing skills. Part of it is a reaction to the near-manic enthusiasts of Santa Cruz, where nearly 100 ULDBs race for pure fun—without the help of race committees, protest committees, or handicaps (in Santa Cruz, IOR is a dirty word). And part of the traditionalists’ resentment is their gut feeling that ULDBs aren’t real yachts.

In 1970, Californian George Olson tried an experiment and created the first ULDB. He thought if he took a boat with the same displacement and sail area as a Cal 20, but made it longer and narrower, it might go faster. The boat he built was called Grendel and it did go faster than a Cal 20, much faster than anyone had expected. The plug for Grendel was later widened by Santa Cruz boatbuilder Ran Moors, and used to make the mold for the Moore 24, a now-popular ULDB one-design.

In the meantime, George Olson had joined up with another Santa Cruz builder by the name of Bill Lee, and together they designed and built the Santa Cruz 27. Olson also helped Lee build his 1977 Transpac winner Merlin, a 67′, 20,000 pound monster of a ULDB (she was subsequently legislated out of theTranspac race). Then Olson and several other of Lee’s employees started their own boatbuilding firm (in Santa Cruz, of course) called Pacific Boats. The first project for Pacific Boats was the Olson 30, which was put into production in 1978. Pacific Boats later became Olson/Ericson, and produced a 25 and a 40. The latest incarnation of the 30 is called the 911.

Construction

Some people wonder how ULDBs can be built so light, yet still be seaworthy offshore. The answer is three-fold: first, a light boat is subjected to lighter loads, when pounding through a heavy sea, than a boat of greater displacement. Second, there is a tremendous saving in weight with a stripped-out interior. Third, as a whole, ULDB builders have construction standards that are well above average for production sailboats. The ULDB builders say that their close proximity to each other in Santa Cruz combined with an open sharing of technology has enabled them to achieve these standards.

The Olson 30 is no exception. The hull and deck are fiberglass vacuum-bagged over a balsa core. The process of vacuum-bagging insures maximum saturation of the laminate and core with a minimum of resin, making the hull light and stiff. The builder claims that they have so refined the construction of the Olson 30 that each finished hull weighs within 10 pounds of the standard. The deck of the Olson does not have plywood inserts in place of the balsa where winches are mounted, instead relying on external backing plates for strength.

The hull-to-deck joint is an inward turned overlapping flange, glued with a rigid compound called Reid’s adhesive, and mechanically fastened with closely spaced bolts through a slotted aluminum toerail. This provides a strong, protected joint, seaworthy enough for sailing offshore. We would prefer a semi-rigid adhesive, however, because it is less likely to fracture and cause a leak in the event of a hard collision. The aluminum toerail provides a convenient location for outboard sheet leads, but is painful to those sitting on the rail.

The Olson 30’s 1,800 pound keel is deep (5.1′ draft) and less than 5″ thick. Narrow, bolted-on keels need extra athwartships support. The Olson 30 accomplishes this with nine 5/8″ bolts and one 1″ bolt (to which the lifting eye is attached). The lead keel is faired with auto body putty and then completely wrapped with fiberglass to seal the putty from the marine environment. Too many builders neglect sealing auto body putty-faired keels, and too many boat owners then find the putty peeling off at a later date. The Olson’s finished keel is painted, and, on the boats we have seen, remarkably fair.

The keel-stepped, single-spreader, tapered mast is cleanly rigged with 5/32″ Navtec rod rigging and internal tangs. The mast section is big enough for peace of mind in heavy air. The halyards exit the mast at well-spaced intervals, so as not to create a weak spot.The shroud chainplates are securely attached to half-bulkheads of 1″ plywood. In addition, a tie rod attaches the deck to the mast, tensioned by a turnbuckle. While this arrangement should provide adequate strength, we would prefer both a tie rod and a full bulkhead that spans the width of the cabin so as to absorb the compressive loads that the tension of the rig puts on the deck.

The rudder’s construction is labor intensive, but strong. Urethane foam is hand shaped to templates, then glued to a 4″ thick solid fiberglass rudder post. The builder prefers fiberglass because it has more “memory” than aluminum or steel. Stainless steel straps are wrapped around the rudder and mechanically fastened to the post. Then the whole assembly is faired, fiberglassed, and painted.

Handling Under Sail

For those of you who agonize over whether your PHRF rating is fair, consider the ratings of ULDBs. The Santa Cruz 50 rates 0; that’s right— zero . The 67′ Merlin has rated as low as minus 60. The Olson 30 rates anywhere from 90 to 114, depending on the local handicapper. Olson 30 owners tell us that the boat will sail to a PHRF rating of 96, but she will almost never sail to her astronomical IOR rating of 32′ (the IOR heavily penalizes ULDBs).

ULDBs are fast. They are apt to be on the tender side, and sail with a quick, “jerky” motion through waves. Instead of punching through a wave, they ride over it. You may get to where you are going fast, but with the motion of the boat and the Spartan interior you won’t get there in comfort. Olson 30 owners tell us that they do far less cruising and far more racing that they had expected to do when they bought the boat. They say it’s more fun to race because the boat is so lively.

Like most ULDBs the Olson 30 races best at the extremes of wind conditions—under 10 knots and over 20 knots. Although her masthead rig may appear short, it is more than powerful enough for her displacement. Owners tell us that she accelerates so quickly you can almost tack at will—a real tactical advantage in light air. In winds under 10 knots they say she sails above her PHRF rating both upwind and downwind.

In moderate breezes it’s a different story. Once the wind gets much above 10 knots, it’s time to change down to the #2 genoa. In 15 knots, especially if the seas are choppy, it’s very difficult for the Olson 30 to save her time on boats of conventional displacement, according to three-time national champ Kevin Connally. The Olson 30 is always faster downwind, but even with a crew of 5 or 6, she just cannot hang in there upwind.

In winds above 20 knots, the Olson 30 still has her problems upwind, but when she turns the weather mark the magic begins. As soon as she has enough wind to either surf or plane, the Olson 30 can make up for all she loses upwind, and more. The builder claims that she has pegged speedometers at 25 knots in the big swells and strong westerlies off the coast of California. That is, if the crew can keep her 1800 pound keel under her 761 sq. ft. spinnaker.

The key to competitiveness in a strong breeze is the ability of the crew. Top crews say that, because she is so quick to respond, they have fewer problems handling her in heavy air than a heavier, conventional boat. However, an inexperienced crew which cannot react fast enough can have big problems. “The handicappers say she can fly downwind, so they give us a low rating (PHRF), but they don’t understand that we have to sail slow just to stay in control,” complained the crew of one new owner.

Like any higher performance class of sailboat, the Olson 30 attracts competent sailors. Hence, the boat is pushed to a higher level of overall performance, and the PHRF rating reflects this. An inexperienced sailor must realize that he may have a tougher time making her sail to this inflated rating than a boat that is less “hot.” The two most common mistakes that new Olson 30 owners make are pinching upwind and allowing the boat to heel excessively. ULDBs cannot be sailed at the 30 degrees of heel to which many sailors of conventional boats are accustomed. To keep her flat you must be quick to shorten sail, move the sheet leads outboard, and get more crew weight on the rail. You can’t afford to have a person sitting to leeward trimming the genoa in a 12-knot breeze. To keep her thin keel from stalling upwind, owners tell us it’s important to keep the sheets eased and the boat footing.

Being masthead-rigged, the Olson 30 needs a larger sail inventory than a fractionally rigged boat. Class rules allow one mainsail, six headsails (jibs and spinnakers) and a 75% storm jib. Owners who do mostly handicap racing tell us they often carry more than six headsails.

Handling Under Power

Only a few of the Olson 30s sold to date have been equipped with inboard power. This is because the extra weight of the inboard and the drag of the propeller, strut and shaft are a real disadvantage when racing against the majority of Olson 30s, which are equipped with outboard engines. The Olson 30 is just barely light enough to be pushed by a 4-5 hp outboard, which is the largest outboard that even the most healthy sailor should be hefting over a transom. It takes a 7.5 hp. outboard to push the Olson 30 at 6.5 knots in a flat calm. The Olson’s raked transom requires an extra long outboard bracket, which puts the engine throttle and shift out of reach for anyone much less than 6′ tall: “A real pain in the ass,” said one owner. Storage is a problem, too. Even if you could get the outboard through the stern lazarette’s small hatch, you wouldn’t want to race with the extra weight so far aft. So most owners end up storing the outboard on the cabin sole.

The inboard, a 154 pound, 7 hp BMW diesel, was a $4,500 option. Unlike most boats, the Olson 30 will probably not return the investment in an inboard when you sell the boat, because it detracts from the boat’s primary purpose—racing.

Without an inboard there’s a problem charging the battery. Owners who race with extensive electronics have to take the battery ashore after every race for recharging. If the Olson 30 weren’t such a joy to sail in light air, and so maneuverable in tight places, the lack of inboard power would be a serious enough drawback to turn away more sailors than it does.

Deck Layout

In most respects, the Olson 30 is a good sea boat. Although the cockpit is 6 1/2′ long, the wide seats and narrow floor result in a relatively small cockpit volume, so that little sea water can collect in the cockpit if the boat is pooped or knocked down. However, foot room is restricted, while the width of the seats makes it awkward to brace your legs on the leeward seat. The seats themselves are comfortable because they are angled up and the seatbacks are angled back. There are gutters to drain water off the leeward seat. The long mainsheet traveler is mounted across the cockpit—good for racing but not so good for cruising.

The Olson 30’s single companionway drop board is latchable from inside the cabin, a real necessity in a storm offshore. A man overboard pole tube in the stern is standard equipment. Teak toerails on the cockpit coaming and on the forward part of the cabin house provide good footing, and there are handholds on the aft part of the cabin house.

The tapered aluminum stanchions are set into sockets molded into the deck and glassed to the inside of the hull, a strong, clean, leak-proof system. However, the stanchions are not glued or mechanically fastened into the sockets. If pulled upwards with great force they can be pulled out. We feel this is a safety hazard. Tight lifelines would help prevent this from happening, but most racing crews tend to leave them slightly loose so as to be able to lean farther outboard when hanging over the rail upwind. If the stanchions were fastened into the sockets with bolts or screws they would undoubtedly leak. A leakproof solution to this problem should be devised and made available to Olson 30 owners.

The cockpit has two drains of adequate diameter.

The bilge pump, a Guzzler 500, is mounted in the cockpit. The Guzzler is an easily operated, high capacity pump. However, its seeming fragility worries us. As is common on most boats, the stern lazarette is not sealed off from the rest of the interior. If the boat were pooped or knocked down with the lazarette open, water could rush below through the lazarette relatively unrestricted. As the Olson 30 has a shallow sump, there is little place for water to go except above the cabin sole.

A “paint-roller” type non-skid is molded into the Olson 30’s deck. It provides excellent traction, but it is more difficult to keep clean than conventional patterned non-skid.

The Olson 30 is well laid out with hardware of reasonable, but not exceptional, quality. All halyards and pole controls lead to the cockpit though Easylock I clutch stoppers. The Easylocks are barely big enough to hold the halyards; they slip an inch under heavy loads. Older Olsons were equipped with Howard Rope Clutches.

The primary winches, Barient 22s, are also barely adequate. Some owners we talked to had replaced them with more powerful models. Schaefer headsail track cars are  tandard equipment. One owner complained that he had to replace them with Merrimans because the Schaefers kept slipping. Leading the vang to either rail and leading the reefs aft is also recommended. The mast partner is snug, leaving no space for mast blocks. The mast step is movable to adjust the prebend of the spar. The partner has a lip, over which a neoprene collar fits. The collar is hoseclamped to the mast. This should make a watertight mast boot. However, on the boat we sailed, the bail to which the boom vang attached obstructed the collar, causing water to collect and pour into the cabin.

The yoked backstay is adjustable from either quarter of the stern, one side being a 2-to-1 gross adjustment and the other side being an 8-to-1 fine tune. A Headfoil II is standard equipment. There is a babystay led to a ball-bearing track with a 4-to-1 purchase for easy adjustment. The track is tied to the thin plywood of the forward V-berth with a wire and turnbuckle. On the boat we sailed, the pad eye to which the babystay tie rod is attached was tearing out of the V-berth.

There is a port in the deck directly over the lifting eye in the bilge. This makes for quick and easy drysailing. The Olson 30, however, is not easily trailered; her 3600 pounds is too much for all but the largest cars, and her 9.3′ beam requires a special trailering permit.

The Olson 30 is cramped belowdecks. Her low freeboard, short cabin house and substantial sheer may make her the sexiest-looking production boat on the water, but the price is headroom of only 4′ 5″. There is not even enough headroom for comfortable stooping; moving about below is a real chore.

To offset the confinement of the interior, the builder has done all that is possible to make it light and airy. In addition to the lexan forward hatch and cabin house windows, the companionway hatch also has a lexan insert. The inside of the hull is smoothly sanded and finished with white gelcoat. There are no full height bulkheads dividing up the cabin. All of the furniture is built of lightweight, light-colored, 3/8″ thick Scandinavian plywood of seven veneers.

The joinerwork is above average and all of the bulkhead and furniture tabbing is extremely neat. There isn’t much to the Olson 30’s interior, but what there is has been done with commendable craftsmanship. The interior wood is fragile, though. There are several unsupported panels of the 3/8″ plywood; if someone were to fall against them with much force it’s likely they would fracture. The cabin sole is narrow, and with the lack of headroom the woodwork is especially susceptible to being dinged and scratched from equipment like outboard engines. Once the finish on the wood is broken, it quickly absorbs water, which collects in the shallow bilge.

The Olson 30 is not a comfortable cruiser. Even after you’ve taken all the racing sails ashore, the belowdecks is barely habitable. To save weight the quarterberths are made of thin cushions sewn to vinyl and hung from pipes. These pipe berths are comfortable, but the cushions are not easily removed. Should they get wet it’s likely they would stay wet for quite a while. Two seabags are hung on sail tracks above the quarter berths, which should help to insure that some clothes always stay dry.

Just forward of each quarterberth is a small uncushioned seat locker. Behind each seat is a small portable ice cooler. In one seat locker is the stove, an Origo 3000 which slides up and out of the locker on tracks. The Origo is a top-of-the-line unpressurized alcohol stove, but to operate it the cook must kneel on the cabin sole. To work at the navigation station, which is in front of the starboard seat, you must sit sideways. In front of the port seat is the lavette, with a hand water pump and a removable, shallow drainless sink. Drainless sinks eliminate the need for a through-hull fitting, a good idea; but they should be deep, not shallow.

The portable head is mounted under the forward V-berth, which we think is totally unsuitable for a sailboat. Who wants a smelly toilet under his pillow? Although there are curtains which can be drawn across the V-berth, we think human dignity deserves an enclosed head, especially on a 30′ boat. The Vberth is large and easy to climb into, but there are no shelves above it nor a storage locker in the empty bow. In short, if you plan to cruise for more than a weekend you had better like roughing it.

Conclusions

For 30-footers, the price of an Olson 30 is cheap; but for boats of similar displacement, it’s damned expensive.

What do you get for the money? You get a boat that is well-built, seaworthy, and reasonably well laid out. You get a boat that, in light air, will sail as fast as boats costing nearly twice as much. Downwind in heavy air, you have a creature that will blow your mind and leave everything shy of a bigger ULDB in your wake. If you spend all of your sailing time racing in a PHRF fleet in an area where light or heavy air dominates, the Olson 30 will probably give you more pleasure for your dollar than almost anything afloat.

However if you race often in moderate air or enjoy more than a very occasional short cruise, you are likely to be very disappointed. Before you consider the Olson 30, you must realistically evaluate your abilities as a sailor. There’s nothing worse than, after finding out that you can’t race a boat to her potential, knowing that she is of little use for the other aspects of our sport.

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The Best Sailboats for Rough Sea Conditions (13 Examples)

Are you planning to take on the challenge and sail in rough sea conditions? If so, you should equip yourself with the right sailboat that can handle heavy seas and keep you safe. Let's discuss the key features that make a sailboat ideal for rough seas and provide you with 13 examples of the best sailboats that you can consider for your next trip.

The best sailboats for rough seas have a strong and stable hull that can withstand the rough waves. They also have a deep keel that provides stability and prevents the boat from tipping over. Additionally, they have a spacious and comfortable cabin to enjoy a relaxing sailing experience even in rough conditions.

The Bermuda 40 is a good example of a classic sailboat that is known for its traditional design and seaworthiness. It has a full keel, which provides stability in rough seas. Let's look at more examples of sailboats that can handle rough sea conditions.

• The essential characteristics of an ideal sailboat for rough seas must include value for stability, comfort, speed, safety, and buoyancy.
• The best hull design type for sailboats in rough sea conditions is a deep-V hull or its modified version.
• The best rig type is either a cutter or a ketch, but for ease of handling, a sloop rig is best.
• A full-keeled sailboat is best in rough sea conditions because it provides excellent stability and directional control.

On this page:

13 examples of best sailboats for rough seas, key characteristics of sailboats for rough sea conditions, the best hull design and types for rough sea conditions, the best sailboat rig type for rough sea conditions, the most ideal keel type for sailboats in rough seas.

Here are 13 examples of sailboats for rough seas that you might want to consider:

1. Prout Snowgoose 37: This is a real blue water cruising boat that is perfect for experienced multi-hull sailors who have cruised across the Atlantic. It is also a great option for those who are new to sailing on rough seas.

2. Moore 24: Designed by the legendary California sailor and surfer George Olson, the Moore 24 is one of the first ultra-light displacement sailboats. It is a fast, fun speedster that is perfect for downwind sailing.

3. Mariner 36: This is a classic cruising sailboat that is known for its durability and seaworthiness. It is equipped with a long keel which provides better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel.

4. Cal 34: This is a popular sailboat that is known for its performance in rough seas. It has a fin keel that makes it easy to handle in heavy winds.

5. Morgan 43: This is a monohull sailboat designed by Nelson Marek. It has a fin keel that provides maneuverability in rough seas.

6. Swan 43: This is a high-performance sailboat that is perfect for racing and cruising. It has a sleek design and a fixed, swept fin keel.

7. Bermuda 40: This is a classic sailboat that is known for its traditional design and seaworthiness. It is equipped with a centerboard keel, which is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing it to sail both coastal and inland waters.

8. Island Packet 26: This is a popular cruising monohull sailboat that is known for its spacious interior and comfortable ride. It has a long keel that provides stability in rough seas.

9. Mariner 47: This is a classic cruising sailboat that is known for its righting capability if capsized. It is equipped with a fin keel that provides splendid maneuverability.

10. LeComte Northeast 38: This is a classic sailboat that is known for its traditional design and seaworthiness. It has a full keel that provides stability in rough seas.

11. Westsail 32: This is a classic cruising sailboat that is known for its strength and durability. It has a full keel that provides stability in rough seas.

12. Dana 24: This is a popular cruising sailboat that is known for its performance in rough seas. It has a fin keel that makes it easy to handle in heavy winds.

13. J/35: This is a high-performance sailboat that is perfect for racing and cruising. It has a sleek design and a deep keel that provides stability in rough seas.

Now here are the essentials characteristics of the ideal sailboat for rough sea conditions:

• A sturdy and well-built hull that can withstand the impact of waves
• A deep keel that provides stability and prevents capsizing
• A strong and reliable rigging system that can handle high winds
• A well-designed deck that provides ample space for the crew to move around safely
• A comfortable and secured cockpit that keeps the crew protected from the elements
• A reliable engine that can be used in case of emergency

Rough sea conditions can be caused by a variety of factors, such as high winds, storms, and tides. High winds can create large waves that can be difficult to navigate, while storms can bring heavy rain, lightning, and unpredictable winds. Tides can also create rough seas, especially when they're opposing the wind direction.

When sailing in rough seas, you might need to keep in mind that your sailboat will be subjected to constant motion , which can be uncomfortable and even dangerous if you're not prepared. Your sailboat must be able to handle the rough sea conditions and keep you safe.

The sailboat needs to be highly stable

A stable sailboat will be less likely to capsize or roll over in high waves. Look for sailboats with a low center of gravity and a wide beam ratio for added stability. Sailboats with a beam ratio of at least 3:1 have improved stability and comfort.

The boat must have essential safety features

You can check if the sailboat has adequate safety features, such as a sturdy hull, strong rigging, and proper safety equipment. Additionally, consider the sailboat's ability to self-right if it capsizes.

The sailboat must be comfortable enough

Some sailboats are designed to provide a smoother ride. Look for sailboats with a deep V-shaped hull and a high deadrise angle for improved comfort in choppy waters.

The deadrise angle is the angle between the hull and the waterline. A high deadrise angle can help a sailboat cut through waves more efficiently, providing a smoother ride in rough seas.

The boat must have improved speed when necessary

Speed is not always a top priority when sailing in rough seas, but it can be important in certain situations. For example, if you need to outrun a storm or reach a safe harbor quickly. Look for sailboats with a high buoyancy-to-weight ratio and a planing hull for improved speed in rough conditions.

The sailboat should stay afloat

Buoyancy is critical when sailing in rough seas. A sailboat with high buoyancy will be more likely to stay afloat in high waves. Look for sailboats with a displacement-to-length ratio of 100 or higher for improved buoyancy.

Here are different types of hull designs available, and each has its advantages and disadvantages:

The best hull design type for sailboats in rough sea conditions is a deep-V hull or a modified-V hull. These hull designs are able to cut through waves and provide a smooth ride, even in choppy waters.

They also offer good stability and maneuverability, which are important in rough seas. Other hull designs, such as catamarans and monohulls , are also effective in rough sea conditions. Catamarans have more roll stability, while monohulls are better at upwind sailing.

If you want a more detailed discussion on hull designs and types, you can try reading this article.

In this section, we will discuss the three most common rig types: Sloop, Ketch, and Cutter.

The sloop rig is the most common rig type

The sloop rig is often used on sailboats of all sizes. It consists of a single mast with a mainsail and a headsail. The mainsail is typically larger than the headsail, and the sail plan is designed to be easily managed by a small crew. The sloop rig is known for its simplicity and ease of handling, making it a popular choice for both cruising and racing.

Ketch is more advantageous in rough seas

The ketch rig is similar to the sloop rig, but it has two masts. The mainmast is taller than the mizzenmast, and both masts have their own sails. The mainsail is typically larger than the mizzen sail, and the mizzen sail is located aft of the cockpit.

The ketch rig is known for its versatility and ability to handle a variety of wind conditions. It also provides more sail area than a sloop rig, which can be advantageous in rough seas. However, they can be more complex to manage than a simple sloop rig and requires more crew members to handle the sails.

The cutter rig can sail upwind

The cutter rig is a type of rig that features a single mast with two headsails. The mainsail is typically smaller than the headsails, and the sail plan is designed to provide maximum power and speed in all wind conditions.

The cutter rig is known for its ability to sail upwind, making it a popular choice for offshore cruising and racing. It is also known for its stability in rough seas, as the multiple headsails provide more control over the boat's direction.

A more detailed discussion of different types of sail rigs can be found in this article.

The best keel type for sailboats in rough sea conditions is full keel because it provides excellent stability and directional control. It extends the length of the boat and is typically deeper than other keel types, providing a large surface area to counteract the force of the waves.

This design also helps to distribute the weight of the boat evenly, which reduces the risk of capsizing. It also provides a straighter and more predictable path through the water , which makes it easier to maintain course and avoid being pushed off course by waves.

This is particularly important in rough sea conditions where waves can be unpredictable and may come from multiple directions. Other keel types, such as fin keels or shoal draft keels, may be more suitable for calmer waters or shallow depths, but may not offer the same level of stability and control in rough sea conditions.

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You may also like, guide to understanding sail rig types (with pictures).

There are a lot of different sail rig types and it can be difficult to remember what's what. So I've come up with a system. Let me explain it in this article.

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14 Best Monohull Sailboats

Last Updated by

Daniel Wade

December 28, 2023

Monohulls are among the most popular boats in the world accounting for over 75% of the total number of boats.

This means that choosing the best monohull sailboats for your sailing adventures can be overwhelming. Fortunately, we're here to help you by highlighting the best monohull sailboats.

Whether you're an accomplished sailor or just starting in the world of sailing, a monohull boat is an ideal option for anyone who wants a true sailing experience.

Unlike other types of sailboats, the level of adrenaline that a monohull brings to your sailing adventure is almost unmatched.

It doesn't matter whether the conditions are rough , wild, flat, or calm, a monohull is the perfect boat type for anyone looking for the thrills of the sail.

Unfortunately, you might not fully enjoy the thrills of sailing on a monohull sailboat if you do not choose the best monohull sailboat for you.

While a monohull cannot compete with multihull sailboats in terms of cabin size, anchoring closer to the shore, and comfort, it should hold its own if you are planning to spend more time at the sea and in unpredictable conditions. ‍

A monohull sailboat will definitely be an ideal option if you're planning to go to more challenging places. This is exactly why you have to make the right choice when looking for the best monohull sailboat.

Over the years, we've sailed many monohull sailboats and that's precisely why we feel confident that we can help you choose the best monohull sailboats.

We've gone through various designs and launches, tested them, and sifted through many monohull brands to select the best monohull sailboats that we strongly believe should be on your bucket list.

So without further ado, let's walk you through them.

Table of contents

Best Monohull Sailboats

{{boat-info="/boats/amel-55"}}

For several decades, Amel 55 has not only been the epitome of easy downwind handling but has developed a cult-like following among sailors. It was designed as the successor to the legendary Super Maramu and brings to the fore incredible features that every serious sailor will value. From a sturdily built hull, solid guardrails to a skeg-hung rudder, watertight bulkheads, and lush bulwarks, Amel 55 is built with anything you could ever want in a perfect monohull sailboat.

And even with a list of standard features, this monohull sailboat is truly designed for those who want to live comfortably on a sailboat for long periods. It comes with superb sea berths with lee cloths, a dishwasher, crockery, an electric furling main and genoa, and several practical items that will make sailing very comfortable.

We have to admit that the design might look old going by modern standards, especially with the advent of easier sail handling systems. For example, the ketch rig design is no longer ideal and is out of fashion. But even with this downside, the Amel 55 remains a phenomenon; a legendary monohull sailboat that ticks all the right boxes in the sailing world.

2. Bavaria Cruise 46

{{boat-info="/boats/bavaria-46-cruiser"}}

Probably the most popular monohull sailboat in recent years, the Bavaria Cruise 46 is a formidable monohull sailboat that was voted "European Yacht of the Year" in 2015. Well, this shouldn't be surprising as you'll probably never find another monohull sailboat in its class that offers more comfort, more space, more luxury, and easier handling.

You can transform the boat's 3 cabins into 4 cabins by transforming the huge forward cabin into two smaller cabins in a few simple steps. In the bow, you'll find a large and luxurious master cabin that can be easily divided using an innovative Flexi-bulkhead.

Its sporty design on the exterior, lightweight composite steering wheels, and a flexible selection of wood tones makes it look so good while offering the best dimensions for both short and long trips. In essence, the Bavaria Cruise 46 is an elegant monohull sailboat that redefines modern sailboats with its clever and innovative design.

3. Hallberg-Rassy 48 Mk II

{{boat-info="/boats/hallberg-rassy-48-mk-ii"}}

Following in the footsteps of the original Hallberg-Rassy 48 Mk that was launched a decade ago, the Mk II was launched in 2014 as an updated version thanks to its modern profile, incredible hull portlights, and larger and frameless windows. This Swedish monohull sailboat is solidly built, gorgeously finished, and is famous around the world and among sailors for its kind and smooth behavior at sea.

Its center cockpit is a true definition of what comfort should entail at sea. This is a monohull sailboat that will provide you with steady sailing both upwind and downwind. It can effortlessly cover 200 miles a day and doesn't require you to be a pro sailor to be able to handle it. If anything, it offers smooth sailing and can be perfectly handled by a casual sailing couple .

In terms of additional features, this monohull comes with a large chart table, lots of stowage and space, a secure linear galley, as well as extra machinery and gear that would be of great help when out on the water. This is a well-thought-out monohull sailboat and is perhaps the best Hallberg-Rassy ever built. This boat guarantees reliability, top-notch quality, and superb resale value.

4. Catalina 545

{{boat-info="/boats/catalina-545"}}

As one of the largest monohull sailboats in the game, the Catalina 545 stands out in the way it's engineered and designed to make it a truly excellent monohull sailboat. If you're an ardent Catalina fan, you'll notice that the 545 has some of the most eyebrow-raising features in bluewater cruising.

For example, the fiberglass collar is designed all-round the top of the hull and shaped like a construction beam. This is to give the hull a more enhanced rigidity while providing a sturdy base for the deck. It's also designed with solid stanchions and cleats, as well as strong sheer rails.

This superb monohull sailboat is constructed with a set of scuppers that play a crucial role in draining near the waterline so that you can perfectly eliminate any development of streaks or strains on the top side of the boat. As far as the bow is concerned, the sprit brings to the table an essential but unique anchor roller, a self-tacking jib, and a light displacement that makes the boat quick even in light or moderate wind. In essence, this monohull sailboat is designed with simple but reliable systems that are easily accessible. Better still, it remains one of the biggest monohull sailboats around.

5. Discovery 55

{{boat-info="/boats/discovery-55"}}

Having been launched two decades ago in 2000, the Discovery 55 has unquestionably stood the test of time and remains one of the most preferred monohull sailboats for families and couples around the world. This is a well-balanced and elegantly designed sailboat that brings to the sailing world immense practicality, comfortable seating, a deep and secure cockpit, dedicated stowage, and a self- tacking jib among many other things.

If you've been on a sailboat and bruised or stubbed your toes, you simply appreciate hos the superb monohull sailboat is designed to keep you safe and secure at all times. From the grab rails and handholds to deep sinks in the galley, the Discovery 55 is designed with plenty of nifty details and the inclusion of many practical ideas.

This sailboat will probably never disappoint you. It is well-mannered, comfortable to live on for days if not months, and a true definition of modern and luxurious. 

6. Contest 50CS

{{boat-info="/boats/contest-50cs"}}

If you want a serious monohull boat that can help you extend your sailing ground with ease and perhaps without even realizing it, the Contest 50CS is the way to go. For close to two decades, this Dutch-made monohull sailboat has been a consistent performer even with its dry weight of 17.5 tons.

This monohull is designed with impeccable modern underwater sections and a completely balanced rudder. Although the in-mast furling may affect the boat's performance, this boat can still perform incredibly well without it.

The fact that this boat is designed with a mainsheet traveler and electric winches that can be easily accessed from the helm makes it an ideal boat for a small crew or if you're planning to sail shorthanded. The genoa is easy to tack and two people can easily gybe downwind under spinnaker.

In addition to having exceptional touches on the interior, you might be surprised to learn that the joinery finish of this boat is arguably among the best in the boating industry. This is a monohull sailboat that's easy to handle, well-built, and has weathered the test of time to still mix it nicely with the big boys of recent years. Well, the Contest 50CS might not be among the cheapest monohull sailboats around but its demand is still soaring even today.

7. Bénéteau Oceanis 45

{{boat-info="/boats/beneteau-oceanis-45"}}

Named yacht of the year in 2012, the Bénéteau Oceanis 45 remains one of the most popular monohull sailboats in the world and for a good reason. This is a sailboat that redefines the important themes that made the Oceanis 50 so popular in a much better way.

One of the most noticeable features of this boat is that the mainsheet is designed in such a way that it doesn't obstruct the cockpit as you tack or jibe. This just a start; the cockpit is nicely designed and will serve you just right during your sailing endeavors. This monohull sailboat comes with three or four cabins, two bathrooms, and has a larger cockpit than other boats in its class.

This is a boat that keeps up with the Bénéteau tradition of being ahead of the game in terms of innovation, attention to detail, and offering top-notch performance. Whether you're looking to live aboard or sail to the remotest of places, this gorgeous monohull sailboat has everything you need in place. 

8. Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i

{{boat-info="/boats/jeanneau-sun-odyssey-36i"}}

Another French monohull sailboat that makes it to this list, the Odyssey 36i is a great monohull sailboat that is acknowledged for having some excellent assets in terms of sailing as it is faster and more agile than most sailboats. This is, without a doubt, an elegant monohull sailboat that brings to the sailing world an overall melodious package in terms of its modern design, power, and capability when sailing.

Even though its hull is of modest size, this monohull sailboat offers great value as it is easy to sail, easy to moor, and dock. Its magnificent electronics, folding prop, and electric anchor winch seem to make everything so easy that you do not even need a crew to sail this boat. The hull is lively and offers good acceleration. Imagine a monohull that can clock around 6.4 knots when sailing upwind.

To be honest, the interior of this boat is still very traditional but the exterior looks quite modern. The exterior is designed like an avant-garde sailboat and looks appealing from just about every angle. In terms of performance, this boat is designed with a deeper keel, spinnaker gear, taller rig, and a much better standing and running rigging.

On the interior, the most noticeable feature is the removable dining table that can be easily removed to accommodate extra bodies. Apart from that, there is nothing complex about the cockpit and deck layout. The double-roller bow fitting is nice and it comes with an optional electric windlass. In essence, this monohull sailboat is designed with lots of features. It is good-looking and reasonably priced.

9. Gunfleet 43

{{boat-info="/boats/gunfleet-marine-gunfleet-43"}}

For many sailors who have the dream of spending most of their time sailing to exotic places, the prospects of downsizing and living most of your essentials at home can be daunting. In other words, it's almost impossible to pack all your life in a 40 feet vessel if you've lived your entire life in a 2,000 feet house. While you can't bring things like your hot bathtub to the ocean, the Gunfleet gives you the chance of bringing most of your essential onboard thanks to its immense spaciousness.

This British-built monohull sailboat is modern, sleek, but kind of feels like a classic sailboat. It comes with an efficient hull that's laid up by hand to enhance attention to detail. The reverse transom brings to the fore a three-step ladder leading to the deck and a small swim platform. It's also designed with a low coach roof and a windshield that seems to taper towards the aft of the cockpit.

Its impeccable low profile gives it a contemporary look but the center-cockpit design is the most attractive part of its design. The aft deck section is expansive and comes with excellent twin zones for sunbathing. They're divided by a skylight and a hatch that lead to the master stateroom that's located below. Its two cabins and two heads are essential if you're planning for long passages. The interior is posh and offers ample natural light.

As far as performance and acceleration are concerned, this monohull sailboat holds well. It accelerates nicely even when out of tacks since the helm is responsive no matter the point of sail. This is an outstanding monohull sailboat that has a solid feel and will most certainly boost your confidence if you're planning to go for long passages even in snobbish conditions.

10. Island Packet 35

{{boat-info="/boats/island-packet-35"}}

Designed to offer top-notch performance, stability, and comfort, the Island Packet 35 is widely known for its spaciousness, modern interior, U-shaped galley, and a vast cockpit that certainly compares to most modern 40 feet sailboats while still holding to the classic lines.

This incredible monohull sailboat is designed with a short spoon, generous spring to the sheer, and a chopped off transom. It is perfectly designed bowsprit elongates the sheerline, which essentially makes the boat appear longer, lower, and much better than it is. As far as the keel is concerned, this is a full keel that's not heavy but very moderate.

The interior of this boat will probably make you think that you're looking at a 40-footer sailboat. It's so spacious that you can use it for your liveaboard sailing escapades. It also offers notable improvements in performance and certainly surpasses some of the company's earlier models. In ideal conditions, very few boats will match the Island Packet 35 in terms of performance. This is a very stable and comfortable monohull sailboat that doesn't hold back as far as performance is concerned.

11. Bowman 40

{{boat-info="/boats/chuck-paine-bowman-40"}}

Thanks to its medium-to-heavy displacement structure, the Bowman 40 is designed to sail across open seas with ease. A modern classic, this monohull sailboat looks pretty much traditional thanks to its overhanging bow, deep-bilged, and narrow shoulders. This makes it very powerful on the waters and offers a lot easier motion during long passages.

Better still, this sailboat is perfectly stable and enjoyable since you won't be thrown about even in strong waves. It's designed with handholds within reach both above and below the deck, as well as no sharp edges to ensure that you don't injure yourself. This is enabled by the balanced hull and carefully integrated sails, as well as ample ballast that's neither heavy nor lightweight. In short, this is a solidly built monohull sailboat that will serve you diligently even when you are confronted with stormy conditions.

Honestly speaking, the Bowman 40 isn't a racing cruiser but neither is it a slouch. It has the ability to sail through the heaviest of oceans and might arrive at your destination just at the same time as other lightweight sailboats. This is, without a doubt, a sailboat that's designed to take you offshore in all weather and sea conditions. 

12. Bavaria Cruiser 51

{{boat-info="/boats/bavaria-51-cruiser"}}

Even though it is one of the largest monohull sailboats, you'll probably never notice this once you start sailing. Well, this is because it handles unbelievably so well and can easily and comfortably accommodate up to ten crew members thanks to its three cabins. To offer optimum luxury, this boat can be customized to have five cabins, which is clear evidence that it can meet various needs.

This boat isn't just about being spacious. Instead, it's designed with all functionalities to enable you to enjoy your sailing adventures. Whether you take a look at its exterior, interior, deck, or cockpit, you'll realize that every part of this gorgeous monohull sailboat oozes class. While the most striking of this vessel's interior is its enormous space, it's also designed elegantly and beautiful to ensure that you enjoy your sailing adventures.

In terms of its hull, you're getting a very agile boat that you can easily control even when the winds are extremely strong. In essence, this is a monohull sailboat that's well and generously proportioned in all aspects. It's modern, sleek, and will turn head whether at the dock or deep at sea. 

13. Wauquiez Centurion 57

{{boat-info="/boats/wauquiez-centurion-57"}}

Thanks to its exciting Mediterranean-style design and functionality, the Centurion 57 is a serious monohull sailboat that feels robust, solid, and truly marks the reincarnation of the legendary Centurion generation of luxury monohull sailboats. Designed as a racing sailboat, the Centurion 57 is thoroughbred, powerful, and impeccably maneuverable but that doesn't mean that you have to use it as a racing cruiser.

Instead, it's comfortable, luxurious, and elegant and brings to the fore everything that French boat makers are known for: class, beauty, and reliability. Its hull is unquestionably one of the most powerful and versatile. It's designed to withstand the harshest of sailing conditions .

It has a very spacious and large cockpit that's designed to afford you maximum versatility while out there. This means that you'll get lots of free space to efficiently maneuver the boat in the tightest situations and also to make things a lot easier if you're sailing shorthanded. From the electric winches to the helm position, you can easily access the transoms.

This is a monohull sailboat that guarantees calm, luxury, and comfort without compromising on performance and speed. It oozes modernity, solidity, and immense attention to details.

14. Rustler 42

{{boat-info="/boats/rustler-yachts-rustler-42"}}

If you've been looking for a monohull sailboat that combines serious performance attributes to other crucial blue water cruising elements, look no further than the Rustler 42. This is a gorgeous, fast, and reliable monohull sailboat that remains the benchmark of all monohull sailboats of its size. It not only offers directional stability but can also carry immense loads and is solid enough even for long passages.

This is a classing looking monohull sailboat that perfectly combines traditional style with modernity and innovativeness. It is not only elegant but also very stable and should be an ideal choice if you're looking for the best liveaboard monohulls.

Its spacious cabin is big enough to offer standing headroom and, of course, plenty of storage within the lockers. The hull is hand-laid using glass fiber reinforced polyester to ensure that it's solid, reliable, and durable.

In Conclusion

There you have it; the above-described vessels are the best monohull sailboats today. They are designed to enhance your sailing experience and ensure that you always enjoy your time out there on the water. Whichever boat you choose, it's essential to ensure that it's in good condition, well-maintained, and in perfect shape for your adventures.

Until next time, stay safe and happy sailing!

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I've personally had thousands of questions about sailing and sailboats over the years. As I learn and experience sailing, and the community, I share the answers that work and make sense to me, here on Life of Sailing.

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Santa Cruz 52

When ‘fast is fun’ is designed to cruise, you get a swift passagemaker.

There’s really no way to talk about the Santa Cruz 52 without stating the obvious: It’s fun to go fast. Bill Lee, who designed the SC52 along with several other sleek and speedy sailboats of varying sizes, actually adopted “Fast is Fun” as his mantra, one he continues to abide by nearly 30 years after the first SC52 was constructed in Santa Cruz, California.

Known in the big-boat sailing community today as “The Wizard,” Lee was born in Idaho in 1942, but was raised in California sailing El Toro dinghies in Newport Beach. 

He graduated in 1965 with a mechanical engineering degree from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, California, and worked in the  defense industry. Lee caused a stir in the 1970s when he introduced what would become a new classification of boats­—the ultra-light displacement boat or ULDB.  His designs attracted plenty of attention. 

In 1973, he designed the Santa Cruz 27, a masthead sloop with a short boom. It was his most popular design with 145 boats built. Four years later, he designed the 68-foot Merlin, which won the 1977 Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, crossing in only eight days, 11 hours, with a top boat speed of 28 knots. 

Lee went on to design other go-fast boats that were significantly lighter than their competitors at the time, primarily due to his integrated construction method and use of lightweight materials. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lee added a 33, 40, 50 and 70 to the Santa Cruz series. The Santa Cruz 52 joined the fleet in 1992. Twenty-nine SC52s were built at the company’s yard in Santa Cruz. 

First impressions

The Santa Cruz 52’s  slim hull and sleek overall profile radiate the potential for fast sailing. When asked to describe the boat, Lee once said, “We crossed a Swan with a rocket ship.”

Santa Cruz resident Skip Ely has owned and sailed his 1995 Santa Cruz 52 Elyxir for 25 years. 

“The hull shape is similar to Swan boats weighing 40,000 pounds, while the 52 weighs half that,” he said. “I believe there is still no comparable boat that races and cruises so well. The aspects that make it a great racer contribute to her ability to outperform other cruisers, while remaining a well-appointed cruising boat.”

Construction

Lee figured out early on in his career that big fiberglass boats needed to lose weight if they were expected to go fast. Cruising boat interiors are almost always overloaded with heavy furniture. Lee found the solution in the use of Kevlar for strength and balsa wood for its near weightlessness. He also developed a building process that integrated the boat’s furniture during the hull construction, so that these appurtenances would actually increase its strength. 

“This is a very comfortable boat,” Ely said. “The furnishings are structural, so the boat is strong and light. They didn’t finish the hull and then send in carpenters to install everything else, which would add unwanted weight.”

Ely’s words dovetailed with what Lee has often declared. “It’s no longer necessary to equate strength with weight.”  The message is echoed in an SC52 sales brochure.“ Every piece of furniture, every panel, every cabinet, is fully and carefully bonded to the hull and deck, providing an integrated hull support structure.”

Steven Davis, who with Tim Dornberg purchased the 1997 SC52 Vela two years ago, praised the boat’s interior. 

“The best thing about the Santa Cruz 52 is that while it’s fast and a thrill to sail, it’s also outfitted with a cruising interior and very comfortable,” he said. 

What to look for

The earlier SC52s are now approaching 30 years old and could be showing signs of age. Although some owners have modified their boats, “most are still pretty much as they were delivered from the yard in Santa Cruz,”  Davis said.

“We race it hard, put it away wet, and it still looks great,” Ely said. 

But technology has changed the way sailplans are configured, and many owners are choosing asymmetrical kites over symmetrical spinnakers. 

“The asymmetrical kites would still be on a pole, which allows the kite to be pulled back and squared to the wind,” Davis explained. “This setup allows for the best of both worlds.”

Potential buyers should take note of whether the boat has upgraded to furling headsails and new navigation and communication electronics, given the advancements in technology since the boat was introduced. The addition of electric winches, dodgers, biminis and other equipment could impact the boat’s value.

Davis said a common SC52 upgrade involves swapping out the original rudder for one with a high aspect ratio, the primary benefit being fingertip control with the new design and less drag.

The boat was made with a 9-foot fin keel or a 7-foot shoal model.

A masthead sloop, the boat has anodized aluminum spars, although carbon fiber was an option. The big wheel on the raised helm station is hard to miss, as is the large cockpit and open transom. The seats serve double duty as lockers. There’s a swim step on the stern, four opening Lewmar deck hatches and eight portholes flood the interior with light. The boat has a bow roller and an optional windlass.

The SC52 is intelligently designed below deck with a wide open saloon, two private cabins, two heads, port and starboard pilot berths, a large dinette, a spacious nav station with full-size chart table, and all electronics and instrumentation within easy reach. There’s a full galley set up for cooking while under way. According to Ely, even the boat’s pilot berths are comfortable and well placed. The saloon has 6 feet 4 inches headroom. The forward head has a separate shower. The owner’s stateroom has ample space, which Lee claimed was his favorite place to sleep. The Kevlar-reinforced bow is backed by a watertight collision bulkhead.

The teak-and-holly sole adds a feeling of warmth and luxury. There’s plenty of ventilation provided by the deck hatches and eight opening Lewmar ports. The galley features a three-burner LPG stove with oven and broiler, an 8-cubic-foot refrigerator/freezer, and a watermaker. The boat carries 143 gallons of fresh water. 

The SC52 relies on a 62-horsepower Yanmar 4JH2-HTBE diesel engine for auxiliary power. The boat carries 86 gallons of fuel. The engine easily pushes the boat, which weighs significantly less than other performance cruisers of similar size. 

The SC52 gets high marks for its handling ability.

“When sailed shorthanded, due to the light displacement and powerful sailplan, she will sail at wind speed upwind in light air without overlapping headsails,” said Ely. “Her hull was designed to perform well on all points of sail and is very stable. She will sail upwind in heavy wind with comfort exceeding heavier cruising boats such as Swans.”

Ely waxed enthusiastically about a recent sail off the California coast. “In 7 knots of wind we can sail 7 knots of boat speed up wind. We keep it at 5 or 6 knots but the boat wants to go eight and pound.”

The Santa Cruz 52 is a sleek, lightweight, well-constructed sloop, designed for comfortable extended cruising or ocean racing.

LOA  53’; LWL 46’ 6”; Beam 14’; Draft 9’ ; Displ. 21,000 lb.; Ballast 9,100 lb.; Sail area 1,327 sq. ft.

General Market Price Data

$294,000 1993 Vancouver, BC

$334,000 1997 California

$389,000 2000 California

SAILING’s Value Guide

(5-sailboat rating system)

PRICE: The asking price for a Santa Cruz 52 during autumn of 2020 ranged from a low of $294,000 for a 27-year-old boat in Canada to $389,000 for a 2000 model in California.  3 sailboats

DESIGN QUALITY: Bill Lee, a mechanical engineer turned naval architect, designed the Santa Cruz 52. He is perhaps best known for Merlin, a 68-foot ocean racing yacht weighing a mere 25,000 pounds, which he designed and built in 1977. The Santa Cruz 70 and other ultralight displacement boats followed.  4 sailboats

CONSTRUCTION QUALITY: The SC52’s hull is made from blister-resistant materials and a vacuum-bagged balsa core. There is a watertight Kevlar-mat collision bulkhead in the bow. Spars are anodized aluminum but carbon was an option. The interior framing is a key component in the boat’s overall structure, strength, and weight.  4 sailboats

USER-FRIENDLINESS: Despite being designed as a go-fast yacht, the SC52 is outfitted with a comfortable, cruising interior. The boat can be easily sailed by a couple on an extended global voyage or by a short-handed crew in an ocean race. 3.5 sailboats

SAFETY:  With its balanced sailplan and rugged construction, the boat provides secure and stable sailing in rough seas. It surfs smoothly downwind with spinnakers in a heavy breeze. The boat’s roomy cockpit has substantial combings and drains quickly through the open transom.  3.5 sailboats

TYPICAL CONDITION: Most of the boats for sale in autumn 2020 were in excellent condition with evident maintenance and upgrades. 4 sailboats

REFITTING:  Owners have made various changes over the years, such as adding furling headsails, electric winches, dodgers and biminis. Replacing the older-style rudder with a high-aspect model, which allows fingertip control and less drag, is among the most common upgrades.  3 sailboats

SUPPORT: Santa Cruz Yachts is no longer in business. Bill Lee, who still lives in Santa Cruz can be contacted through his website, www.fastisfun.com. There’s a sizable racing fleet of SC52s in California and some of the boats participate in the TransPac and other well-known ocean races. 2.5 sailboats

AVAILABILITY: Of the 29 Santa Cruz 52s built, at least three were for sale in the United States and Canada in autumn 2020. 3.5 sailboats

INVESTMENT AND RESALE:  The Santa Cruz 52 tends to hold its value. The average selling  price was $300,000 in 2020 despite having been built nearly 30 years ago. 3.5 sailboats

OVERALL ‘SVG’ RATING: 3.5 sailboats

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PHRF Racing: Choosing a Boat

• By Bruce Bingman
• Updated: September 18, 2013

Many factors go into buying a sailboat, including price, availability, style, and how much the boat will be used off the racecourse. At the risk of adding another facet to an already complicated decision, we tasked PHRF guru Bruce Bingman with identifying a few boats that are likely to sail above their rating in certain conditions. As is the case with any single-number rating system, every boat will have a sweet spot, a combination of wind strength, sea state, and course configuration under which it will be tough to beat.

For this exercise we asked Bingman to focus on boats that would be predominantly raced in club-level weeknight or weekend races. We wanted boats that are lively, fun to sail, and available. In addition, we restricted him to boats with an average PHRF rating of 30 or greater. Below that number you tend to find dry-sailed race boats requiring professionally managed programs, which are beyond the scope of this exercise, and usually too fast to really race in most local series.

It goes without saying that for any even halfway serious racing, preparation is as important as the boat selected or the handicap rating with which it comes. We’ve all heard it 1,000 times before: There is no substitute for good sails, reliable gear, and a smooth bottom. You may think your two- or three-year-old sails look fine, but you will pick up 6 seconds per mile and more with a new inventory. The most carefully selected boat or the most favorable rating won’t help you overcome a mid-race breakdown such as a broken halyard or jammed winch. A dirty bottom can cost you 30-plus seconds per mile. Even a thin layer of slime will cost you 3 seconds per mile. So pick your weapon, gear up, burnish your bottom, and head for the start.

• Typical conditions: Waves and chop, strong but fading sea breeze
• **Typical racecourses: Multiple lap windward-leewards **

My summer weeknight beercan series is conducted outside the harbor, on an exposed ocean racecourse, so it’s usually choppy. Winds are typically strong sea breezes (15-plus knots) at the start of the race, but lighten as the race progresses. The race committee typically runs one long, three-leg, windward-leeward race.

Here’s where you want the dependable offshore workhorse, and there are many options. A moderate displacement boat, a powerful rig, and a sea-kindly hull will produce a boat that drives upwind, through chop, and carries a spinnaker large enough to preserve a lead.

PHRF 30 to 70: The Beneteau 40.7 is a great offshore racer that provides superior upwind ability in choppy, breezy conditions. Great for a distance races, too.

PHRF 71 to 114: The Beneteau 42s has power and waterline rolled together in a single package. The sails are big, so it requires recruiting some young bucks to help get around the course.

PHRF 115 and up: The Cal 40 is a classic design with the ability to go up and down the course in any condition.

• ** Typical conditions: Flat water, shifty winds can be strong or light**
• Typical racecourses: Mix of random leg and windward-leeward

My local weeknight beercan series is conducted on a sheltered, narrow lake, with very shifty winds, but no current. Winds tend to be at either end of the spectrum: It’s either drifter light or wipeout windy. Because of the prevailing direction and narrowness of the lake, there’s usually a lot of maneuvers on the random-leg courses.

In this scenario we’re looking for light boats that are on the smaller end of the size range for each of the rating bands, but still retain the ability to perform in breezier conditions.

PHRF 30 to 70: Although the Henderson 30 can be a handful in bigger breeze, it’s an excellent light-air performer and reaches like a bandit.

PHRF 71 to 114: The Antrim 27 is a very fast and fun light-air performer that’s great in a breeze, so long as there’s not a lot of chop.

PHRF 115 and up: The B-25 , Leif Bailey’s original sporty speedster, is almost unbeatable under these conditions. An excellent, all-around performer that’s easy to drive around the course, and can still be found at reasonable prices.

• ** Typical conditions: Flat water, moderate winds**
• Typical racecourses: Random legs, all points of sail

My weeknight series is conducted in protected bay waters, with an average current of .5 to 1 knot, and generally flat water (with some chop at the upper wind range). Winds in the summer average 10 to 15 knots, and the organizing committee will typically run courses using government marks, requiring a mix of sailing angles.

In this scenario we want a boat with good all-around performance, especially for headsail reaches, a point of sail where many modern boats with non-overlapping headsails struggle. The 10- to 15-knot wind range is plenty to power most boats, so a very light boat, carrying a penalty for high sail-area-to-displacement ratio, will be at a disadvantage. This is particularly true in a “waterline” race, where a higher hull speed trumps maneuverability. On the other hand, a moderately light displacement boat with not too much wetted surface will ensure you’re not left out in the cold should the wind go light.

PHRF 30 to 70: The J/120 has consistently demonstrated excellent all-around performance to its typical rating.

PHRF 71 to 114: Either the Frers 41 or the J/29 masthead outboard. Both of these boats have overlapping headsails and enough power to get around the course and through the reaches. Which one is best would be dictated by local class splits. It’s generally desirable to be toward the faster end of the class.

PHRF 115 and up: The S2 9.1 was a MORC slayer in its heyday. It’s a very fast, but comfortable, 30-footer with a powerful overlapping headsail and long waterline.

• Typical conditions: Steep chop, moderate winds
• ** Typical racecourses: Windward-leeward**

The races in my weeknight series are held on open, exposed, and typically choppy water, especially in moderate winds. The summer average is 10 knots, and the race committee usually runs windward-leeward courses.

Windward-leeward races are typically won upwind and lost downwind. In this scenario we’re looking for boats that will have good light-air performance to weather while retaining the advantage downwind. We also want to look for boats with relatively fine bow sections to get through the chop.

PHRF 30 to 70: The Farr 30 is still one of the best small windward-leeward boats ever designed (owner bias aside). It’s light and easily driven, but has a fine bow that can cut through the chop when needed. Thanks to the masthead spinnaker, it excels downwind in all breezes.

PHRF 71 to 114: The J/35 has excellent all-around traits. This workhorse provides great performance in the medium breeze, and the overlapping headsail really helps drive through the chop.

PHRF 115 and up: The C&C 35 MK I is often overlooked. With its low wetted surface, overlapping headsail, and narrow beam, it’s an excellent performer, particularly in the chop. The Mark III model, which has a deeper keel and more modern rudder design, is a strong windward performer, but pays in the rating game and is typically a good deal more costly.

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Light Displacement vs Heavy Displacement Of The Boat: 9 Questions Answered

Displacement is the weight of the volume of water the boat is displaced when it is afloat.

The ratio of a boat’s displacement over the boat’s loaded waterline length (the DLR or D/L ratio) decides whether the boat is a light displacement or heavy displacement. if the ratio is over 300 then this boat is heavy displacement. if the ratio is lower than 180 then this boat is light displacement.

Table of Contents

What does light displacement mean?

Light displacement means the ratio of a boat’s displacement over the boat’s loaded waterline length is lower than 180.

Light displacement also means the boat is light, has less material, maybe smaller sail, light rigging, etc.

The Displacement over loaded waterline length ratio (DLR or D/L ratio) formula is below Displacement in long tons /(0.01x loaded waterline length in ft)^3

Are lighter boats better?

It depends on how you are going to use the boat. A lighter boat is awesome for racing because it is much easier and quicker to change direction, and speed up.

The lighter boat sits higher in the water so it will have less drag. The lighter boat is easy to sail with litter wind.

Most sailors do not suggest a lighter boat for an offshore cruise, because a lighter boat tends to roll over or demast in extreme weather. In the worst case, a light boat can be smashed by big wind or a big wave.

What does heavy displacement mean?

The ratio of a boat’s displacement over length is over 000, then this boat is considered a heavy displacement boat/sailboat.

A boat with a heavy displacement means the boat is heavy. The material of the boat is sturdy and heavy.

Are Heavier boats better?

Heavier boats are good for rough weather because the weight of the boat can give you a smooth ride. Heavier boats are more stable than lighter boats.

Normally heavier boats will have heavy rigging and more sail area, making the sailing complex. It might need several people to sail a heavier boat.

Light wind can hardly move a heavier sailboat. A heavier boat sails better on windy days. Heavier boats are not a good choice for new sailors.

What is a planing hull?

A planing hull is a very light displacement hull. The majority of the time the boat cruise on the surface of the water. A planing hull is fast but less comfortable for people.

What is a semi-displacement hull ?

A semi-displacement hull is a combination of a planing hull and a displacement hull. Most coast cruise boats have a semi-displacement hull because a semi-displacement hull has the speed advantage of a planning hull and also has less draft than a full displacement hull.

A semi-displacement hull has more speed than a full displacement because it sits higher in the water and has less drag than a full displacement hull.

A semi-displacement hull also consumes less fuel than a full-displacement hull because it needs less power to propel.

What is a full displacement hull?

A full displacement hull is typically round in shape. The hull sits lower in the water.

A full-displacement hull has deep draft than any semi or light-displacement hull, it needs more power to cross through water.

A full displacement hull is good for an offshore cruise because the displacement hull makes the boat stable and gives you a smooth ride during rough weather. The drawback of a full displacement hull is its slow speed.

Here is a good video to explain planing hull, semi-displacement, and full displacement hull

What is maxed displacement on a boat?

The maximum displacement of a boat is the same as its full load displacement. The water weight displaced when a boat is fully loaded is its maximum displacement.

What shape of boat holds the most weight?

If only concerned with the carrying capacity, a boat like a box holds the most weight. Such as a barge in a rectangular shape with a wide flat bottom will hold the most freight than any other shape of the boat.

If you are concerned about the speed, the bow has to be in a V shape or U shape to have less drag.

What is the most efficient hull design?

A planing hull is the most fuel-efficient hull design. The planing hull is a light displacement hull so the boat basically cruises on the surface of the water. when a boat cruise on top of the water then there is not much drag underwater, and the boat can speed up quickly with little fuel.

The drawback of a planing hull is its stability. This kind of hull is best used in a calm, protected river or lake. It is not suggested to use a planing hull in offshore cruises because the boat is easy to roll over and break in the rough weather.

Multi-hulled boats are more stable than mono-hull boats. Two hulled catamarans offer remarkable stability and enormous space.

How do you maximize buoyancy on a boat?

To increase buoyancy on a boat you can do 3 things. Increasing the volume of the submerged part of a boat, increasing the density of the fluid, and removing some weight from your boat.

Increasing the volume of the submerged part of a boat

Some boat owners add foams to their boats to increase buoyancy.

You can also make the bottom of a boat wide and flat, this will also increase buoyance.

Increasing the density of the fluid

Boats sail fast in salt water than fresh water, because salt water is denser than freshwater

Removing some weight from your boat

Removing anything unnecessary from your boat can increase buoyance.

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Indonesia’s rescue of Rohingya refugees at sea is a reminder of an ordeal that began in Myanmar

An Indonesian search and rescue ship found a wooden boat that had been carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees that capsized, and began pulling survivors who had been standing on its hull to safety. (Mar. 21)

FILE - Ethnic Rohingya disembark from their boat upon landing on a beach in Ulee Madon, North Aceh, Indonesia, on Nov. 16, 2023. A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza, File)

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FILE - Rohingya Muslim children refugees, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, wait squashed against each other to receive food handouts distributed to children and women by a Turkish aid agency at Thaingkhali refugee camp, Bangladesh on Oct. 21, 2017. A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

FILE - A Rohingya Muslim woman, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, lies unconscious on the shore of the Bay of Bangal after the boat she was traveling in capsized at Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14, 2017. A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

FILE - Ethic Rohingya people rest on Lampanah Leungah beach after landing in Aceh Besar, Aceh province, Indonesia, on Feb. 16, 2023. A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. (AP Photo/Riska Munawarah, File)

FILE - In this image from a video, Rohingya refugees walk at the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Feb. 2, 2021. A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. (AP Photo/Shafiqur Rahman, File)

BANGKOK (AP) — A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives.

Desperate survivors were pulled to safety from their capsized boat by local fishermen on Thursday, after a yet-unknown number perished.

For Rohingya refugees living in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh , escaping across the seas might seem like a good option --- but it’s often a deadly one. The U.N. estimates that as many as one in eight people die or disappear in the attempt.

The U.N. refugee agency said in January that of 4,500 Rohingyas embarking on sea journeys last year in Southeast Asian waters, 569 were reported dead or missing.

AP AUDIO: Indonesian rescue at sea of Rohingya refugees is a reminder of an ordeal that began in Myanmar.

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on a refugee boat rescue off Indonesia.

ROOTS OF DISPLACEMENT

Members of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority have long been considered by Myanmar’s Buddhist majority to be illegal settlers from Bangladesh, even though many of their families lived in Myanmar for generations. Aside from social discrimination, nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and have been denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

In August 2017, Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in northern Rakhine State in response to attacks by a shadowy Rohingya insurgent group. The counterinsurgency action forced about 740,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and led to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes, killings and burned thousands of homes. International courts are now considering whether the campaign amounted to genocide.

There are now about 1 million Rohingya residing in refugee camps in Bangladesh, including those who fled previous waves of repression.

Most live in large open camps in Cox’s Bazar district, close to the border with Myanmar. There is inadequate water, sanitation, and health care in the overcrowded camps, which are susceptible to fire, flood and outbreaks of disease. There are few opportunities for meaningful work and violent criminal gangs operate unhindered,.

A second major camp set up on the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal houses about 30,000 refugees. It was supposed to help ease the overcrowding at Cox’s Bazar, but critics say its housing resembles prison blocks, heightening an already dispiriting dead-end atmosphere, and it is vulnerable to flooding.

An estimated 600,000 Rohingya still live in Myanmar, most in camps for internally displaced people or tightly restricted ghettos.

ESCAPE BY SEA

Social and economic pressures convince some Rohingya living in camps in Myanmar as well as Bangladesh to embark on the dangerous sea voyage to Malaysia or Indonesia, which have Muslim majority populations.

The suffer from a lack of economic opportunity, as well as unhealthy physical and psychological conditions in the camps. Because the majority of Rohingya refugees are stateless, they have no legal hope of resettlement.

The modest job opportunities they believe await them elsewhere are a strong attraction, and in some cases they can get help from relatives who have already started new lives abroad.

But they are often exploited by human traffickers who charge extortionate amounts — anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars — to make the crossing on ramshackle boats with little concern for safety. In some cases, the traffickers deliver the refugees to confederates who trap them into jobs of virtual slavery.

The voyages can take weeks or even months on vessels without adequate supplies of food, water, and safety equipment.

Some never complete the journey . “In a single deadly incident in November 2023, it is feared that some 200 Rohingya lost their lives when their boat was reported to have sunk in the Andaman Sea,” the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in January.

DESTINATIONS

If they are not turned back or lost, the Rohingya refugees usually end up in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia.

Thailand tries to discourage refugee landings by offering food, fuel and repairs to send the boats on their way, though if the refugees make landfall they are detained.

Malaysia is relatively more welcoming, allowing thousands of Rohingya refugees to disembark over the years. Like Thailand, it is a middle income country and needs low cost labor. Thailand, however, has a bottomless supply of low cost workers from immediate neighbors such as Myanmar and Cambodia, which Malaysia does not, so in Malaysia the Rohingya arrivals can help fill that gap.

Indonesia has for many years welcomed Rohingya refugees, providing them with temporary accommodation and allowing them to register for resettlement in third countries, a process that can take years

In the past year, however, there have been signs of resentment in Aceh, where several hundred refugees have occasionally arrived in a single day, sparking protests about them taking advantage of local resources and other complaints. The negative sentiment has been egged on by apparently coordinated online hate speech campaigns whose origins are unclear.

FUNDING PLEA

While crises elsewhere around the world garner more attention, the U.N. continues to seek funds to ease the burdens of the Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh.

The U.N. last week launched an appeal to member nations to fund a $852.4 million plan to provide “food, shelter, health care, access to drinkable water, protection services, education and livelihood opportunities and skills development” to the Rohingya refugees and the communities where their camps are.

Lebanon’s displaced celebrate Ramadan amid fears that border conflict might become the ‘new normal’

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Shortly before sunset on a recent evening, Mervat Reslan and a group of other women made french fries in vats of boiling oil to serve with that night’s iftar — the meal that breaks the daily fasts Muslims observe during the holy month of Ramadan .

They belong to roughly 60 families who have been sheltering at an abandoned hotel in the southern Lebanon town of Marwanieh to escape the shelling and airstrikes that have made it too dangerous to stay in their homes in the country’s border region with Israel. Although they’ve become a family of sorts to one another, many long to return home.

“Especially during Ramadan, you start thinking that your house is better — that you and your family all used to gather together, your children and their children, your in-laws and neighbors. And now you’re sitting by yourself in a room,” said Reslan.

Those living at the Hotel Montana, which went out of business in 2005, are among an estimated 90,000 people from southern Lebanon who have been displaced by the near-daily clashes between the militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces. Another 60,000 Lebanese civilians have decided to stay in the border zone and risk the danger, according to a United Nations agency.

The border clashes began with a few Hezbollah rockets fired across the frontier on Oct. 8, the day after Hamas’ deadly incursion into southern Israel and Israel’s ensuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip . They quickly escalated to near-daily exchanges of rockets, shelling and airstrikes across the border and sometimes beyond .

Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 people in Lebanon. Most were militants from Hezbollah or allied groups, but more than 40 were civilians. Hezbollah strikes, meanwhile, have killed at least eight Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers, and displaced tens of thousands on that side of the border.

The cross-border attacks seem unlikely to end before a cease-fire is reached in Gaza — and possibly not even then . The prolonged state of limited conflict has left Lebanon, and particularly the displaced families, in limbo. School, work and farming in Lebanon’s border region have been put on hold. For a while, many hoped that a cease-fire would coincide with the start of Ramadan, but half of the holy month has passed without clear prospects for a solution.

Most of the displaced Lebanese have moved in with relatives or found shelter in vacant houses or rooms offered up by residents farther north. Those with the means have relocated to their second homes or rented apartments.

Shelters like the Hotel Montana are a last resort.

“A person can deal with 10, 15, 20 days, a month (of displacement), but we’re now entering the sixth month and it looks like it will go on longer,” said Ali Mattar, who heads the union of municipalities for the Sahel al-Zahrani region, which includes Marwanieh.

The cash-strapped municipalities have been given much of the responsibility for dealing with the displacement, a task made more difficult by the four years of economic crisis the country has faced.

The Lebanese government has promised to compensate residents of the south whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. But the funding hasn’t been secured, said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Kheir, who heads the country’s Higher Relief Committee. A comprehensive survey hasn’t been conducted to assess how many houses are damaged, though it is “in the thousands,” he said.

Hezbollah has been providing monthly payments to many of the displaced families, an official with knowledge of the situation said. The official, who was not allowed to brief journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give a precise amount, saying it depends on a family’s size and needs.

Local and international nongovernmental organizations and religious charities have taken up much of the slack, but their resources are also strained. At the Hotel Montana, for instance, the Red Cross provides diesel to run a generator, but it can only be run for two hours in the morning and five in the evening because the supply is limited, said Salam Badreddine, who oversees disaster management for the union of municipalities.

The U.S. and France, among other countries, have engaged in diplomatic missions to try to prevent the border conflict from escalating into full-scale war . But even if they succeed, some fear that a continuous state of low-level conflict could become the new normal.

“I think the risk of an all-out war still exists, and I would argue that it’s high,” said Emile Hokayem, director of regional security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank. But there is also a potential for a long-term simmering conflict that would “exhaust” the struggling Lebanese economy and society, he said.

“What I worry about is this ability to rationalize levels of violence and adjust to them, and (to think that) as long as we’ve avoided the big one, we’re fine,” he said.

Reslan said her family was briefly displaced during the brutal monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, but this time feels different. Shelling has already damaged her family’s house, and she is afraid that the extended displacement will become permanent.

“We’re afraid — not of Israel but that we won’t return to our houses and villages. That’s the only thing we’re afraid of,” she said.

Mohammed Issa, a construction worker and farmer, fled the village of Aitaroun with his wife and three children on Oct. 8, when shells began falling next to his house. They stayed for two months with another family before moving to the Hotel Montana. Now he’s counting the days until they can go home.

“If there’s a cease-fire, we’ll be on the highway and at our house within an hour,” he said.

When displaced families do finally return home, they could face the grim reality of damaged homes, burned fields and a lack of resources to help, said Jasmin Lilian Diab, director of the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University.

“It is not so much a conversation of whether or not they will eventually be able to go back, but what are they going back to,” she said.

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