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Review of Albin Ballad


Albin Ballad
Albin Ballad anno 1978. La Ballade


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Albin Ballad aka Albin Ballad 30 or Ballad 30 aka Ballad 30 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Rolf Magnusson in the early seventies. A few thousand boats have been produced. The Albin Ballad is built by the Swedish yard Albin Marin AB.

Looking for a new boat? Find an Albin Ballad or similar boat for sale

Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.
Unfortunately, the hull is not a double hull which affects the indoor climate. Especially if the water is considerable colder than the cabin, then one might expect condense water in the cabin.
The deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.


Interior
Interior
Interior of Albin Ballad anno 1976.

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with 5 berths, a galley, 60.0 liter fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 35.0 liter waste water capacity.


Cockpit
Cockpit
Cockpit of Albin Ballad anno 1975.
Rig
Rig
Rig of Albin Ballad.

The Albin Ballad is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.


Keel
Keel
Keel of Albin Ballad anno 1976. Balladen på land inden istandsættelse er begyndt.

Fin keel

The Albin Ballad is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.55 - 1.65 meter (5.09 - 5.39 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The Albin Ballad has been equipped with different engine alternatives.

Alternative 1:

Albin Ballad may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD7B diesel engine at 17 hp (12 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.0 knots

Alternative 2:

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD7 diesel engine at 13 hp (9 kW). The speed is 6.0 knots.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 30.0 liters (7 US gallons, 6 imperial gallons).


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Albin Ballad is 1.92, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.4 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Albin Ballad is about 137 kg/cm, alternatively 768 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 137 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 768 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Albin Ballad is 21.6 - 24.9.

Low High 58% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Albin Ballad is 3.08.

Slim Wide 54% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 54% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Albin Ballad is 41%.

Low High 50% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 50% of all similar sailboat designs. This righting moment (ability to resist heeling) is spot on average!


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Albin Ballad is 301 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

Heavy Light 31% 0 50 100
31% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Albin Ballad with ISO 8666 reference sail is 13.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.5.

Low High 21% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 21% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 38% 0 50 100
The Albin Ballad has more rig than 38% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly underrigged.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Albin Ballad is 46

Slow Fast 46% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 46 which means that a it is faster than 46% of all similar sailboat designs.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 23m2 (247 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications genoa specifications spinnaker specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 25.7 m(84.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard25.7 m(84.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard25.7 m(84.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.2 m(30.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.2 m(30.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 22.9 m(75.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet20.2 m(66.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham2.9 m(9.4 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap5.7 m(18.7 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul5.7 m(18.7 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Albin Ballad it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References