Review of Malö 39

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

The hull is a sandwich construction which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin. The core material in the sandwich construction is balsa.

Floor plan of Malö 39.

The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany. Mahogany belongs to the hardwood species, known for being water-repellent and resistant to decay. It has an attractive wood grain and holds wood polish and varnish well.
The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 7 berths, a galley, 450.0 liter fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 50.0 liter waste water capacity.

Rig of Malö 39 anno 2003.

The Malö 39 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 Malö 39 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 boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.80 - 1.90 meter (5.91 - 6.21 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Malö 39 may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar diesel engine at 60 hp (44 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.4 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 275.0 liters (72 US gallons, 60 imperial gallons).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Malö 39 is 1.84, 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 7.5 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 Malö 39 is about 243 kg/cm, alternatively 1361 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 243 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1361 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Malö 39 is 30.6.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Malö 39 is 3.27.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Malö 39 is 40%.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Malö 39 is 272 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

As balsa wood is used as sandwich core material special care must be taken in relation to work that require penetration of the sandwich construction in order to to prevent water to get in contact with the balsa wood. Otherwise the balsa wood will eventually rotten and be expensive/impossible to repair.

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 40m² (430 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.

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.

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 Malö 39 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.