Review of Surprise
Basic specs.
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The boat is equipped with 4 berths.
The Surprise has been built with different keel alternatives.
CentreBoard
One option is a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.70 - 0.80 meter (2.30 - 2.60 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Fin keel
Another option is 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.
This keel is also made of iron.
Surprise can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.60 - 1.70 meter (5.25 - 5.55 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Unknown keel type
This keel is also made of iron.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.80 - 0.90 meter (2.62 - 2.92 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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Surprise is 2.35, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Surprise is about 127 kg/cm, alternatively 711 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 127 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 711 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 L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Surprise is 3.08.
The ballast ratio for Surprise is 47%.
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): 23.41
Maintenance
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 | ||
| Jib sheet | 7.7 m | (25.1 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 7.7 m | (25.1 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 19.1 m | (62.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 16.8 m | (55.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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