Review of Motiva 38

Basic specs.

The Motiva 38 is a motorsailer designed by the Danish maritime architect Arne Borghegn. The Motiva 38 is built by the Danish yard Motiva Yacht.

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Interior

The boat is equipped with 4 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 300.0 liter fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 70.0 liter waste water capacity.

Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.

Rig

The Motiva 38 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.

Keel

Unknown keel type

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

Motiva 38 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.

Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Perkins engine at 50 hp (37 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.2 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 400.0 liters (105 US gallons, 87 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 Motiva 38 is 1.69, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

EU classification

Motiva 38 holds a CE certification:

The boat is by European Union certified as Class A. OCEAN:

Designed for extended voyages where conditions may exceed wind force 8 (Beaufort scale) and significant wave heights of 4 m and above but excluding abnormal conditions, and vessels largely self-sufficient.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.4 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 Motiva 38 is about 221 kg/cm, alternatively 1242 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 221 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1242 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 Motiva 38 is 38.7.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 92% 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 Motiva 38 is 3.22.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 54% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Motiva 38 is 38%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 42% 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 Motiva 38 is 357 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

12% 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.

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 37m² (398 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	11.6 m	(38.1 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	11.6 m	(38.1 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.0 m	(95.1 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	25.5 m	(83.7 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 Motiva 38 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.