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Review of Pearson 33 Mk II


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Pearson 33 Mk II is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect Bill Shaw in the mid eighties. The Pearson 33 Mk II is built by the American yard Pearson Yachts.

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Hull

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.


Interior

The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 189.0 liter fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 37.0 liter waste water capacity.


Rig
Rig
Rig of Pearson 33 Mk II anno 1986.

The Pearson 33 Mk II 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

The Pearson 33 Mk II has been built with different keel alternatives.

CentreBoard

One option is a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.10 - 1.20 meter (3.61 - 3.91 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Fin keel

Another option is 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.

Pearson 33 Mk II can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.83 - 1.93 meter (6.00 - 6.30 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Wing keel

But be aware that even though a Wing Keel keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.27 - 1.37 meter (4.17 - 4.47 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar 2GM20F diesel engine at 18 hp (13 kW). Calculated max speed is about 4.9 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 68.0 liters (17 US gallons, 14 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 Pearson 33 Mk II is 1.98, 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 6.9 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 Pearson 33 Mk II is about 179 kg/cm, alternatively 1005 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 179 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1005 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 Pearson 33 Mk II is 24.7.

Low High 50% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 50% of all similar sailboat designs. This is an average comfort value!


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Pearson 33 Mk II is 2.96.

Slim Wide 73% 0 50 100
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 Pearson 33 Mk II is 40%.

Low High 46% 0 50 100
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 Pearson 33 Mk II is 272 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 38% 0 50 100
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)

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

The SA/D for Pearson 33 Mk II with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.5, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.6.

Low High 46% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 46% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 21% 0 50 100
The Pearson 33 Mk II has more rig than 21% 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 33m2 (355 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 30.1 m(98.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard30.1 m(98.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard30.1 m(98.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.9 m(32.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.9 m(32.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 24.8 m(81.3 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet21.8 m(71.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham3.7 m(12.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap7.4 m(24.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul7.4 m(24.2 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.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Pearson 33 Mk II 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