Review of Empress 41

Empress 41 anno 1979.

Basic specs.

The Empress 41 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect William Garden. The Empress 41 is built by the Taiwanese yard Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd..

Looking for a new boat? Find an Empress 41 or similar boat for sale

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 8 berths, a galley, 320.0 liter fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 100.0 liter waste water capacity.

Rig

The Empress 41 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.

Keel

Unknown keel type

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.87 - 1.97 meter (6.14 - 6.44 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Empress 41 may be equipped with an inboard Perkins diesel engine at 47 hp (35 kW). The speed is 10.0 knots.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 230.0 liters (60 US gallons, 50 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 Empress 41 is 1.60, 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 7.6 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 Empress 41 is about 241 kg/cm, alternatively 1353 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 241 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1353 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 Empress 41 is 43.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 90% 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 Empress 41 is 3.68.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 79% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Empress 41 is 33%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 31% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Empress 41 is 381 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

4% 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): 13.65

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 41m² (441 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**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Jib sheet	13.6 m	(44.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	13.6 m	(44.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	34.0 m	(111.5 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	29.9 m	(98.2 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 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 Empress 41 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

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.