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Review of PT-32


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The PT-32 also known as Plas Trend 32 is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect Britton Chance together with Andy Green in the early seventies. The PT-32 is built by Plas Trend.

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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. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.


Rig
Rig
Rig of PT-32. PT32 Gambit, 6050, Chicago

The PT-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

Fin keel

The PT-32 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 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 1.65 - 1.75 meter (5.41 - 5.71 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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for PT-32 is 1.80, 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 7.0 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 PT-32 is about 167 kg/cm, alternatively 937 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 167 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 937 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 PT-32 is 26.5.

Low High 66% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 66% 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 PT-32 is 3.23.

Wide Slim 54% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 54% 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 PT-32 is 52%.

Low High 93% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 93% 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 PT-32 is 227 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 62% 0 50 100
62% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for PT-32 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.4, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.8.

Low High 50% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 50% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 24% 0 50 100
The PT-32 has more rig than 24% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly 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 29m2 (312 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.

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 29.5 m(96.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard29.5 m(96.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard29.5 m(96.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.7 m(31.8 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.7 m(31.8 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 24.2 m(79.4 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet21.3 m(69.9 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham3.3 m(10.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap6.6 m(21.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.6 m(21.6 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 PT-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