Review of Albin Ballad
Basic specs.
Looking for a new boat? Find an Albin Ballad or similar boat for sale
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.
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.
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.
Fin keel
The Albin Ballad is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Albin Ballad is 21.6 - 24.9.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Albin Ballad is 3.08.
The ballast ratio for Albin Ballad is 41%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Albin Ballad is 301 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.
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.
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for Albin Ballad is 46
Maintenance
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.
Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 25.7 m | (84.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 25.7 m | (84.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 25.7 m | (84.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 9.2 m | (30.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 9.2 m | (30.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 22.9 m | (75.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 20.2 m | (66.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 2.9 m | (9.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 5.7 m | (18.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 5.7 m | (18.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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.
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.