Review of Suspens
Basic specs.
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The Suspens is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.
The Suspens has been built with different keel alternatives.
CentreBoard
One option is a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.80 - 0.90 meter (2.62 - 2.92 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Fin keel
Another option is a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.
This keel is also made of iron.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.80 - 1.90 meter (5.91 - 6.21 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Suspens is about 185 kg/cm, alternatively 1041 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 185 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1041 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 Suspens is 3.06.
The ballast ratio for Suspens is 36%.
Maintenance
Dimensions of sail for fractional 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 | 30.3 m | (99.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 30.3 m | (99.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 30.3 m | (99.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 9.2 m | (30.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 9.2 m | (30.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 23.1 m | (75.6 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 20.3 m | (66.5 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.2 m | (13.8 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 8.4 m | (27.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 8.4 m | (27.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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