Review of Alden 43

Basic specs.

The Alden 43 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect Niels C. Helleberg in the early nineties. The Alden 43 is built by the American yard Alden Yachts Inc..

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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 378.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Rig

The Alden 43 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.

Keel

Fin keel

The Alden 43 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 2.26 - 2.36 meter (7.41 - 7.71 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Alden 43 may be equipped with an inboard Westerbeke diesel engine at 63 hp (46 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.4 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 189.0 liters (49 US gallons, 41 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 Alden 43 is 1.78, 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 7.9 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 Alden 43 is about 268 kg/cm, alternatively 1503 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 268 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1503 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 Alden 43 is 31.5.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 54% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Alden 43 is 3.45.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 62% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Alden 43 is 45%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 85% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Alden 43 is 238 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

50% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. This boat has a precise average ratio between displacement and length!

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Alden 43 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 18.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 22.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 73% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Alden 43 has more rig than 27% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly underrigged.

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 48m² (516 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

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

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**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	40.1 m	(131.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	40.1 m	(131.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	40.1 m	(131.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	13.2 m	(43.2 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	13.2 m	(43.2 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	32.9 m	(107.9 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	29.0 m	(95.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	5.3 m	(17.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	10.7 m	(35.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	10.7 m	(35.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 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 Alden 43 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.