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Review of Challenger 35 (Primrose)


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Challenger 35 (Primrose) is a sailboat designed by the British maritime architect Angus S. Primrose in the mid seventies.

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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.


Interior

The boat is equipped with 132.0 liter fresh water capacity.


Rig

The Challenger 35 (Primrose) 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

Full keel

The Challenger 35 (Primrose) is equipped with a long keel. A full keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

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 most marinas as the draft is just about 1.52 - 1.62 meter (4.99 - 5.29 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

Challenger 35 (Primrose) may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta 2003 diesel engine at 45 hp (33 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.6 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 95.0 liters (25 US gallons, 20 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 Challenger 35 (Primrose) is 1.70, 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 6.8 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 Challenger 35 (Primrose) is about 170 kg/cm, alternatively 954 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 170 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 954 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 Challenger 35 (Primrose) is 34.8.

Low High 88% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 88% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Challenger 35 (Primrose) is 3.33.

Wide Slim 62% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 62% 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 Challenger 35 (Primrose) is 34%.

Low High 21% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 21% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Challenger 35 (Primrose) is 376 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

Heavy Light 8% 0 50 100
8% 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 Challenger 35 (Primrose) with ISO 8666 reference sail is 13.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.1.

Low High 14% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 14% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 66% 0 50 100
The Challenger 35 (Primrose) has more rig than 66% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.


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 28m2 (301 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 27.6 m(90.6 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard27.6 m(90.6 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard27.6 m(90.6 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet 10.7 m(35.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet10.7 m(35.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet 26.7 m(87.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet23.5 m(77.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Cunningham4.7 m(15.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap9.4 m(31.0 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul9.4 m(31.0 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.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Challenger 35 (Primrose) 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