Review of Hughes 48

Basic specs.

The Hughes 48 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Sparkman & Stephens in the early seventies. The Hughes 48 is built by the Canadian yard Hughes Boat Works Ltd..

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Rig

The Hughes 48 is equipped with a yawl rig. A yawl rig is generally considered easier to handle, because the sails are smaller, and because it can sail on most points to the wind with one sail completely taken down for repair or while reefing. The sail configuration of a yawl allows for better comfort and stability when sailing downwind or on a broad reach.

Keel

Full keel

The Hughes 48 is equipped with a long keel. A full keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.13 - 2.23 meter (6.99 - 7.29 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 Hughes 48 is 1.52, 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 7.7 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 Hughes 48 is about 243 kg/cm, alternatively 1362 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 243 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1362 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 Hughes 48 is 45.6.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 88% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Hughes 48 is 4.05.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 97% 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 Hughes 48 is 52%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 99% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Hughes 48 is 372 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

7% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Hughes 48 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.5, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.4.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 8% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

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 43m² (462 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.

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	37.9 m	(124.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	37.9 m	(124.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	37.9 m	(124.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	14.6 m	(48.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	14.6 m	(48.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	36.6 m	(120.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	32.2 m	(105.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	5.5 m	(18.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	11.0 m	(36.1 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	11.0 m	(36.1 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 Hughes 48 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.