Review of Karavel 10 M
Basic specs.
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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.
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 core material in the sandwich construction is balsa.
The interior is like nearly all boats made of wood.
The boat is equipped with 3-4 berths and a galley.
Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.
The Karavel 10 M 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.
Fin keel
The Karavel 10 M is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full 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.
Karavel 10 M can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.35 - 1.45 meter (4.43 - 4.73 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
An outboard motor is often used on this boat. In that case the boat will typically require a power of 4 - 5 hp, alternatively 82 - 98 lbs thrust if you prefer an electrical motor. Electric outboards are becoming popular for sailboat owners who want clean instant power with less noise and no exhaust fumes.
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 Karavel 10 M is 1.75, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - 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 7.1 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 Karavel 10 M is about 123 kg/cm, alternatively 691 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 123 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 691 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 Karavel 10 M is 15.9.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Karavel 10 M is 4.66.
The ballast ratio for Karavel 10 M is 53%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Karavel 10 M is 79 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Karavel 10 M with ISO 8666 reference sail is 20.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 22.8.
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for Karavel 10 M is 79
Maintenance
As balsa wood is used as sandwich core material special care must be taken in relation to work that require penetration of the sandwich construction in order to to prevent water to get in contact with the balsa wood. Otherwise the balsa wood will eventually rotten and be expensive/impossible to repair.
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 23m2 (247 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.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 27.1 m | (88.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 27.1 m | (88.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 27.1 m | (88.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 9.9 m | (32.6 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 9.9 m | (32.6 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 24.8 m | (81.4 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 21.8 m | (71.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 3.5 m | (11.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 7.1 m | (23.3 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 7.1 m | (23.3 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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