Review of Mottle 33

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

The boat is equipped with 2 cabins, 5 berths, a galley, 400.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

The Mottle 33 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.

Fin keel

The Mottle 33 is equipped with 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.

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 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.

Mottle 33 may be equipped with an inboard Bukh DV24 diesel engine at 24 hp (17 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.6 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.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 120.0 liters (31 US gallons, 26 imperial gallons).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Mottle 33 is 2.05, indicating that this boat would not 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 7.4 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 Mottle 33 is about 201 kg/cm, alternatively 1130 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 201 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1130 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Mottle 33 is 19.3.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Mottle 33 is 3.05.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Mottle 33 is 54%.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Mottle 33 is 149 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

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): 17.24

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 34m² (365 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.

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.

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.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Mottle 33 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.