Review of Nimbus 26 (Olsen)
Basic specs.
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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.
The hull is a sandwich construction which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.
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 2 cabins, 4 berths, a galley and toilet facility.
The Nimbus 26 (Olsen) 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 boat may be equipped with an inboard Bukh DV10M diesel engine at 12 hp (8 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.0 knots
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 Nimbus 26 (Olsen) is 1.60, 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 6.5 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 Nimbus 26 (Olsen) is about 106 kg/cm, alternatively 598 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 106 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 598 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 Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Nimbus 26 (Olsen) is 27.6.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Nimbus 26 (Olsen) is 3.58.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Nimbus 26 (Olsen) is 213 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Nimbus 26 (Olsen) with ISO 8666 reference sail is 12.3, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 14.5.
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for Nimbus 26 (Olsen) is 14
Maintenance
Dimensions of sail for masthead 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 | 21.9 m | (71.9 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 21.9 m | (71.9 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 21.9 m | (71.9 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 8.0 m | (26.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 8.0 m | (26.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 20.0 m | (65.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 17.6 m | (57.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Cunningham | 2.9 m | (9.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 5.7 m | (18.7 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 5.7 m | (18.7 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
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