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Review of Suspens


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Suspens is a sailboat designed by the French maritime architect Michel Joubert together with Bernard Nivelt also from France. The Suspens is built by the French yard Archambault.

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Rig

The Suspens is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.


Keel

The Suspens 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 0.80 - 0.90 meter (2.62 - 2.92 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Fin keel

Another option is a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

This keel is also made of iron.

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.


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 Suspens is about 185 kg/cm, alternatively 1041 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 185 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1041 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 Suspens is 3.06.

Slim Wide 54% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 54% 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 Suspens is 36%.

Low High 24% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 24% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 99% 0 50 100
The Suspens has more rig than 99% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.


Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional 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 30.3 m(99.4 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard30.3 m(99.4 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard30.3 m(99.4 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.2 m(30.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.2 m(30.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 23.1 m(75.6 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet20.3 m(66.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham4.2 m(13.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap8.4 m(27.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul8.4 m(27.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 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 Suspens 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