Review of Nordica 29

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 a galley and toilet facility.

The Nordica 29 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.

Full keel

The Nordica 29 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 enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.60 - 1.70 meter (5.25 - 5.55 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Nordica 29 may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta diesel engine at 13 hp (9 kW). Calculated max speed is about 4.2 knots

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Nordica 29 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 6.7 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.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Nordica 29 is about 147 kg/cm, alternatively 826 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 147 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 826 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Nordica 29 is 30.0.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 85% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Nordica 29 is 3.14.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 54% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Nordica 29 is 45%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 73% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Nordica 29 is 298 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

31% 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)
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): 14.49

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.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Nordica 29 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.

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.