Review of Pearson Vanguard
Basic specs.
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The boat is equipped with one cabin, 6 berths, a galley, 152.0 liter fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 38.0 liter waste water capacity.
The boat has multiple rigs.
One option is 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.
Another option is a yawl rig. A yawl rig is generally considered easier to handle, because the sails are smaller, and because it can sail on most points to the wind with one sail completely taken down for repair or while reefing. The sail configuration of a yawl allows for better comfort and stability when sailing downwind or on a broad reach.
Full keel
The Pearson Vanguard is built with a long keel. A long keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.
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.
Pearson Vanguard can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.37 - 1.47 meter (4.49 - 4.79 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The fuel tank has a capacity of 76.0 liters (20 US gallons, 16 imperial gallons).
The Pearson Vanguard has been equipped with different engine alternatives.
Alternative 1:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Westerbeke W-21 A diesel engine at 21 hp (15 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.0 knots
The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.
Alternative 2:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Universal Atomic 4 gasoline engine at 30 hp (22 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.0 knots
The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.
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 Pearson Vanguard is 1.71, 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 6.3 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 Pearson Vanguard is about 128 kg/cm, alternatively 722 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 128 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 722 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 Pearson Vanguard is 32.2.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Pearson Vanguard is 3.45.
The ballast ratio for Pearson Vanguard is 41%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Pearson Vanguard is 414 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Pearson Vanguard with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.8, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.5.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 21m2 (226 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.
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 | 26.1 m | (85.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 26.1 m | (85.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 26.1 m | (85.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 9.8 m | (32.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 9.8 m | (32.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 24.4 m | (80.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 21.5 m | (70.4 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.0 m | (13.3 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 8.1 m | (26.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 8.1 m | (26.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Masthead rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 26.1 m | (85.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 26.1 m | (85.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 26.1 m | (85.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 9.8 m | (32.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 9.8 m | (32.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 24.4 m | (80.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 21.5 m | (70.4 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.5 m | (14.8 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 9.0 m | (29.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 9.0 m | (29.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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