Review of Irwin 52 Mk II

Basic specs.

The Irwin 52 Mk II is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Ted Irwin in the early eighties.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Rig

The Irwin 52 Mk II is built with a cutter rig. A cutter rig breaks the yacht’s sail area down into smaller, easier to manage sails. Cutter rigs are often used for offshore sailing.

Keel

CentreBoard

The Irwin 52 Mk II is built with a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.62 - 1.72 meter (5.31 - 5.61 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 Irwin 52 Mk II is 1.73, 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 9.1 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 Irwin 52 Mk II is about 438 kg/cm, alternatively 2456 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 438 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 2456 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 Irwin 52 Mk II is 37.7.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 66% 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 Irwin 52 Mk II is 3.39.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 69% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Irwin 52 Mk II is 204 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

54% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for Irwin 52 Mk II with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.4, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.2.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 4% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

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 89m² (957 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.

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**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	46.2 m	(151.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	46.2 m	(151.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	46.2 m	(151.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	15.8 m	(52.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	15.8 m	(52.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	39.6 m	(130.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	34.9 m	(114.4 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	6.1 m	(20.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	12.2 m	(40.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	12.2 m	(40.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 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 Irwin 52 Mk II 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.