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Review of Pearson 26


Pearson 26
Pearson 26 anno 1973. 1973 Pearson 26 Hull #558 Renamed ´Peregrinations´ in 2021

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Pearson 26 is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect William H. Shaw in the early seventies. A few thousand boats have been produced. The Pearson 26 is built by the American yard Pearson Yachts.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Pearson 26 or similar boat for sale

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
Interior
Interior of Pearson 26 anno 1973. Unfinished but just painted cabin looking forward

The boat is equipped with 83.0 liter fresh water capacity.


Cockpit
Cockpit
Cockpit of Pearson 26 anno 1973. Cockpit looking forward
Rig

The Pearson 26 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
Keel
Keel of Pearson 26 anno 1973. Launching after bottom painting and renaming, 5/2021

Fin keel

The Pearson 26 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 boat 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.


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 26 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 6.2 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 26 is about 117 kg/cm, alternatively 657 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 117 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 657 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 26 is 20.2.

Low High 54% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 54% 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 Pearson 26 is 3.00.

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


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Pearson 26 is 41%.

Low High 58% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 58% 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 Pearson 26 is 236 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 50% 0 50 100
50% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. This boat has a precise average ratio between displacement and length!


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for Pearson 26 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.0.

Low High 58% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 58% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 90% 0 50 100
The Pearson 26 has more rig than 90% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly 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 19m2 (204 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 22.3 m(73.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard22.3 m(73.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard22.3 m(73.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 8.0 m(26.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.0 m(26.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 19.9 m(65.3 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet17.5 m(57.5 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.

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 Pearson 26 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