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Review of First 53 F5


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The First 53 F5 aka Beneteau First 53 F5 is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Bruce Farr in the early nineties. The First 53 F5 is built by the French yard Bénéteau.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.


Rig

The First 53 F5 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

The First 53 F5 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Unknown keel type

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.45 - 2.55 meter (8.04 - 8.34 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Unknown keel type

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.51 - 2.61 meter (8.23 - 8.53 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Unknown keel type

First 53 F5 can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.97 - 2.07 meter (6.46 - 6.76 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Unknown keel type

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.46 - 2.56 meter (8.07 - 8.37 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


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.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for First 53 F5 is about 475 kg/cm, alternatively 2660 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 475 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 2660 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for First 53 F5 is 3.50.

Slim Wide 58% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 58% 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 First 53 F5 is 29%.

Low High 15% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 15% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.


Over- / underrigged


Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail 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 43.5 m(142.8 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard43.5 m(142.8 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard43.5 m(142.8 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet 15.8 m(51.7 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet15.8 m(51.7 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet 39.4 m(129.3 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet34.7 m(113.8 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Cunningham5.7 m(18.6 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap11.3 m(37.1 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul11.3 m(37.1 feet)14 mm(0.55 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.

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Finally

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



References