Review of Hallberg-Rassy 53

Basic specs.

The Hallberg-Rassy 53 or HR 53 aka HR 53 is a large sailboat designed by the Argentine maritime architect Germán Frers in the mid nineties. Less than 100 boats have been produced.

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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.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 1018.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Keel

Unknown keel type

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 only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.29 - 2.39 meter (7.51 - 7.81 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Hallberg-Rassy 53 may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta TAMD 41B HD diesel engine at 145 hp (108 kW). The speed is 9.2 knots.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 844.0 liters (222 US gallons, 185 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 Hallberg-Rassy 53 is 1.65, 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 9.4 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 Hallberg-Rassy 53 is about 466 kg/cm, alternatively 2609 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 466 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 2609 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 Hallberg-Rassy 53 is 40.9.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 79% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Hallberg-Rassy 53 is 3.53.

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 Hallberg-Rassy 53 is 39%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 66% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Hallberg-Rassy 53 is 191 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

62% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 16.46

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 78m² (839 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

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**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Jib sheet	16.4 m	(53.9 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	16.4 m	(53.9 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	41.1 m	(134.8 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	36.1 m	(118.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 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 Hallberg-Rassy 53 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

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.