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Review of Seawolf 30 (Watkins)


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Seawolf 30 (Watkins) also known as Seawolf 30 or Watkins 30 or Watkins 30 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect Walter H. Scott together with Watkins in the late eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is built by the American yard Watkins Yachts Inc..

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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.

The deck is a sandwich construction which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.


Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with a galley, 151.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.


Rig
Rig
Rig of Seawolf 30 (Watkins). Drawing from an original Watkins Yachts Inc. advertisement.

The boat has more than one rig.

One option is 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 Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is built 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.

Seawolf 30 (Watkins) can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.22 - 1.32 meter (4.00 - 4.30 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The Seawolf 30 (Watkins) has been equipped with different engine alternatives.

Alternative 1:

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar 3GM30 diesel engine at 27 hp (20 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.4 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.

Alternative 2:

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar 2GM20 diesel engine at 18 hp (13 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.2 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 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 Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is 2.00, indicating that this boat would not 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 6.6 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 Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is about 154 kg/cm, alternatively 865 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 154 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 865 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 Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is 23.6.

Low High 58% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 58% 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 Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is 2.80.

Slim Wide 79% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 79% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is 44%.

Low High 69% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 69% 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 Seawolf 30 (Watkins) is 283 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

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)

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): 15.39


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 24m2 (258 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
Masthead rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Jib sheet 8.8 m(28.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.8 m(28.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 22.0 m(72.3 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet19.4 m(63.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Masthead rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 24.9 m(81.8 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard24.9 m(81.8 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard24.9 m(81.8 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 8.8 m(28.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.8 m(28.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 22.0 m(72.3 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet19.4 m(63.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham3.0 m(10.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap6.1 m(20.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.1 m(20.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 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

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References