Review of Elvstrøm 32

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 boat is equipped with 5 berths, a galley, 52.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

The Elvstrøm 32 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 Elvstrøm 32 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 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.

Elvstrøm 32 may be equipped with an inboard Farymann diesel engine at 11 hp (8 kW). Calculated max speed is about 4.8 knots

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Elvstrøm 32 is 2.24, 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 6.5 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 Elvstrøm 32 is about 150 kg/cm, alternatively 845 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 150 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 845 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Elvstrøm 32 is 16.4.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Elvstrøm 32 is 3.05.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Elvstrøm 32 is 50%.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Elvstrøm 32 is 209 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): 22.77

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Elvstrøm 32 is 58

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 26m² (279 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.

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.

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If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.