Review of Etap 28

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.

The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany. Mahogany belongs to the hardwood species, known for being water-repellent and resistant to decay. It has an attractive wood grain and holds wood polish and varnish well.
The boat is equipped with 5 berths, a galley, 120.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

The Etap 28 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.

The Etap 28 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Fin keel

One 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.

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. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.60 - 1.70 meter (5.25 - 5.55 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Shallow keel

Another option is a shallow keel. A shallow keel allow to sail both coastal and inland waters.

This keel is also made of iron.

Etap 28 can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.25 - 1.35 meter (4.10 - 4.40 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD7A diesel engine at 13 hp (9 kW). The speed is 7.0 knots.

The transmission is a saildrive.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 35.0 liters (9 US gallons, 7 imperial gallons).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Etap 28 is 2.14, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Etap 28 is about 168 kg/cm, alternatively 944 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 168 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 944 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Etap 28 is 2.82.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Etap 28 is 39%.

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): 15.15

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.

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.

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If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.