Review of Birchwood 340

Basic specs.

The Birchwood 340 is a motorboat. The Birchwood 340 is built by the British yard Birchwood Boat Company Ltd.

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Interior

The boat is equipped with 2-6 berths, a galley, 280.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

Keel

Unknown keel type

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.04 - 1.14 meter (3.41 - 3.71 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The Birchwood 340 has been equipped with different engine alternatives.

Alternative 1:

Birchwood 340 may be equipped with a diesel engine.

Alternative 2:

The boat may be equipped with dual diesel engines.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 682.0 liters (180 US gallons, 150 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.

EU classification

Birchwood 340 holds a CE certification:

The boat is by European Union certified as Class B. OFFSHORE:

Designed for offshore voyages where conditions up to, and including, wind force 8 (Beaufort scale) and significant wave heights up to, and including, 4 m may be experienced.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.0 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 Birchwood 340 is about 187 kg/cm, alternatively 1051 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 187 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1051 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Birchwood 340 is 2.96.

Compared with other similar motor boats it is more spacy than 66% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

Curiosities

Powerboat?

In Denmark, you are required to have achieved a 'powerboat driving license' in order to sail a powerboat.
In this context a boat is considered a powerboat if:

Danish definition of a powerboat

According to this definition this boat is not categorized as a Powerboat.
Though, if you install a motor of 102 kW (137 hp), then the boat will become a powerboat, and you will need a Danish 'powerboat driving license'

Maintenance

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 Birchwood 340 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.