Review of Carter 39

Basic specs.

The Carter 39 is a sailboat designed by the British maritime architect Richard Carter in the mid seventies. The Carter 39 is built by the Greek yard Olympic Yachts.

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

Floor plan of Carter 39.

The boat is equipped with one cabin, 3+2 berths, a galley, 189 liters (49 US gallons, 41 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

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.

Rig

Rig of Carter 39 anno 1974. crusing model, cutter rig

The Carter 39 is built with a masthead rig. The sail area for the mailsail + jib is 68.2 m² (734.5 ft²). 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

Vertical profile of Carter 39.

Fin keel

The Carter 39 is built 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 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.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.06 - 2.16 meter (6.76 - 7.06 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The fuel tank has a capacity of 113 liters (29 US gallons, 24 imperial gallons).

Carter 39 may be equipped with an inboard Perkins 4.107 diesel engine at 50 hp (37 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.6 knots

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 Carter 39 is 1.92, 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 7.3 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.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Carter 39 is about 238 kg/cm, alternatively 1333 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 238 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1333 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 Carter 39 is 29.6.

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 Carter 39 is 3.06.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 73% 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 Carter 39 is 39%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Carter 39 is 310 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

24% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for Carter 39 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.1.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 42% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Carter 39 has more rig than 46% 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 41m² (441 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	36.3 m	(119.3 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	36.3 m	(119.3 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	36.3 m	(119.3 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	11.9 m	(39.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	11.9 m	(39.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.8 m	(97.6 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	26.2 m	(85.9 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	4.0 m	(13.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	7.9 m	(26.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	7.9 m	(26.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 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.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Carter 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.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.