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Review of Drabant 38


Drabant 38
Drabant 38.

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Drabant 38 is a sailboat designed by the Danish maritime architect Gert Gerlach in the early eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Drabant 38 is built by the Danish yard Gesten Glasfiber Bådeværft.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Drabant 38 or similar boat for sale

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 interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with 6 berths, a galley, 80.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

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


Rig

The Drabant 38 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

Fin keel

The Drabant 38 is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long 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.

Drabant 38 can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.92 - 2.02 meter (6.30 - 6.60 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar 3GMC diesel engine at 22 hp (16 kW). The speed is 8.0 knots.

The transmission is a saildrive.

The fuel tank, which is made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 30.0 liters (7 US gallons, 6 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 Drabant 38 is 1.81, 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 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 Drabant 38 is about 188 kg/cm, alternatively 1057 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 188 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1057 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 Drabant 38 is 19.4 - 23.3.

Low High 24% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 24% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Drabant 38 is 3.80.

Wide Slim 93% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 93% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design. This type of design is also referred to as 'needle'.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Drabant 38 is 38%.

Low High 42% 0 50 100
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 Drabant 38 is 152 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

Heavy Light 88% 0 50 100
88% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Drabant 38 is 76

Slow Fast 76% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 76 which means that a it is faster than 76% 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 35m2 (376 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
UsageLengthDiameter
Jib sheet 11.5 m(37.7 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet11.5 m(37.7 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet 28.8 m(94.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet25.3 m(83.0 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 Drabant 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