Review of OVNI 32

Basic specs.

The OVNI 32 is a sailboat designed by the French maritime architect Philippe Briand in the late eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The OVNI 32 is built by the French yard SAS Alubat Chantier Naval.

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Hull

The hull is made of aluminium. Aluminum is strong and forgiving. Where an impact on a fiberglass hull will result in major gelcoat damage and possible cracking, an aluminum hull will probably only have a scratch or a small bend. The only concern is electrolysis. Ensure that you have proper sacrificial anodes installed.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 2 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 200.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

Rig

The OVNI 32 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

CentreBoard

The OVNI 32 is equipped with 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.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.50 - 0.60 meter (1.64 - 1.94 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

OVNI 32 may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar diesel engine at 27 hp (20 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.9 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 75.0 liters (19 US gallons, 16 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 OVNI 32 is 1.95, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

EU classification

OVNI 32 holds a CE certification:

The boat is by European Union certified as Class B. OFFSHORE:

Designed for offshore voyages where conditions up to, and including, wind force 8 (Beaufort scale) and significant wave heights up to, and including, 4 m may be experienced.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.8 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 OVNI 32 is about 176 kg/cm, alternatively 987 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 176 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 987 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 OVNI 32 is 24.9.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for OVNI 32 is 3.09.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 62% 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 OVNI 32 is 43%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 62% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for OVNI 32 is 277 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

38% 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)

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): 19.12

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 31m² (333 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

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
Jib sheet	10.2 m	(33.6 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.2 m	(33.6 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet	25.6 m	(84.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	22.5 m	(73.9 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.

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 OVNI 32 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.