Review of Birdie 32

Basic specs.

The Birdie 32 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Jan Becker in the late seventies. A few hundred boats have been produced. The Birdie 32 is built by Eggel & Co.

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck 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.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 5 berths.

Rig

The Birdie 32 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.

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.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.70 - 1.80 meter (5.58 - 5.88 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 Birdie 32 is 2.07, indicating that this boat would not 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 6.9 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 Birdie 32 is about 172 kg/cm, alternatively 967 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 172 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 967 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 Birdie 32 is 20.2.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 31% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Birdie 32 is 2.94.

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.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Birdie 32 is 42%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Birdie 32 is 202 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

73% 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 Birdie 32 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.8.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 46% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Birdie 32 has more rig than 50% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that this rig is spot on average!

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Birdie 32 is 54

The relative speed performance is 54 which means that a it is faster than 54% of all similar sailboat designs.

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 30m² (322 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 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.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	31.3 m	(102.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	31.3 m	(102.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	31.3 m	(102.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet	9.4 m	(30.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet	9.4 m	(30.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet	23.5 m	(77.1 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	20.7 m	(67.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Cunningham	3.3 m	(10.8 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap	6.6 m	(21.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul	6.6 m	(21.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 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 Birdie 32 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.