Review of Sun Dance 36
Basic specs.
Looking for a new boat? Find a Sun Dance 36 or similar boat for sale
Both the hull and the deck is made of hand laid fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of hand laid fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
Both the hull and the deck is a sandwich construction which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.
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 4 cabins, 8 berths, a galley, 370.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.
The boat has more than one rig.
One option is 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.
The Sun Dance 36 has been built with different keel alternatives.
Deep keel
One option is a deep keel. A deep keel provide a better healing moment than a shallow 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.
Sun Dance 36 can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.03 - 2.13 meter (6.66 - 6.96 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Shallow keel
Another option is a shallow keel. A shallow keel allow to sail both coastal and inland waters.
This keel is also made of iron.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.48 - 1.58 meter (4.86 - 5.16 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta engine at 28 hp (20 kW). The speed is 7.0 knots.
The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.
The fuel tank, which is made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 150.0 liters (39 US gallons, 32 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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Sun Dance 36 is 2.13, 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 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Sun Dance 36 is about 234 kg/cm, alternatively 1311 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 234 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1311 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 Sun Dance 36 is 21.4.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Sun Dance 36 is 2.84.
The ballast ratio for Sun Dance 36 is 33%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Sun Dance 36 is 207 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.
SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 16.82
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 40m2 (430 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.
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.
| Masthead rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 10.8 m | (35.4 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 10.8 m | (35.4 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 27.0 m | (88.6 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 23.8 m | (78.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Masthead rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 10.8 m | (35.4 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 10.8 m | (35.4 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 27.0 m | (88.6 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 23.8 m | (78.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
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.
We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Sun Dance 36 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.