Review of Pearson 424 Ketch
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The boat is equipped with 643.0 liter fresh water capacity.
The Pearson 424 Ketch is equipped with a ketch rig. A ketch rig is generally considered easier to handle, because the sails are smaller, and because it can sail on most points to the wind with one sail completely taken down for repair or while reefing. The sail configuration of a ketch allows for better comfort and stability when sailing downwind or on a broad reach.
Full keel
The Pearson 424 Ketch 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 lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.
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.
Pearson 424 Ketch may be equipped with an inboard Westerbeke 60 diesel engine at 54 hp (40 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.9 knots
The fuel tank has a capacity of 303.0 liters (80 US gallons, 66 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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Pearson 424 Ketch is 1.88, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.8 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Pearson 424 Ketch is about 272 kg/cm, alternatively 1524 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 272 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1524 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.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Pearson 424 Ketch is 3.26.
The ballast ratio for Pearson 424 Ketch is 36%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Pearson 424 Ketch is 245 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Pearson 424 Ketch with ISO 8666 reference sail is 13.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 15.6.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 43m2 (462 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.
Dimensions of sail for ketch rig.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 30.2 m | (99.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 30.2 m | (99.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 30.2 m | (99.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 12.9 m | (42.3 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 12.9 m | (42.3 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 32.2 m | (105.8 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 28.4 m | (93.1 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.4 m | (14.5 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 8.8 m | (29.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 8.8 m | (29.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
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