Review of Sylphe
Basic specs.
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The hull 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 Sylphe 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.
Fin keel
The Sylphe is equipped with 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.
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 1.05 - 1.15 meter (3.44 - 3.74 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
An outboard motor is often used on this boat. In that case the boat will typically require a power of 3 - 4 hp, alternatively 60 - 72 lbs thrust if you prefer an electrical motor. Electric outboards are becoming popular for sailboat owners who want clean instant power with less noise and no exhaust fumes.
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 Sylphe is 2.20, indicating that this boat would not 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 5.8 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 Sylphe is about 92 kg/cm, alternatively 515 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 92 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 515 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 Sylphe is 11.0 - 14.9.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Sylphe is 2.71.
The ballast ratio for Sylphe is 40%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Sylphe is 176 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Sylphe with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.2.
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for Sylphe is 31
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 15m2 (161 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.
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 | 19.3 m | (63.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 19.3 m | (63.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 19.3 m | (63.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 6.5 m | (21.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 6.5 m | (21.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 16.4 m | (53.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 14.4 m | (47.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Cunningham | 2.7 m | (8.9 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 5.4 m | (17.7 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 5.4 m | (17.7 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.
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