Review of San Juan 33S

Basic specs.

The San Juan 33S is a sailboat designed by the British maritime architect David Pedrick in the early eighties. The San Juan 33S is built by the American yard Clark Boat Company.

Here we would have liked to show you nice photos of the San Juan 33S.
If you have a photo you would like to share: Upload Image

Looking for a new boat? Find a San Juan 33S or similar boat for sale

Hull

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

Keel

Fin keel

The San Juan 33S 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 boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.80 - 1.90 meter (5.91 - 6.21 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 San Juan 33S is 1.77, 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 7.1 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.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for San Juan 33S is about 137 kg/cm, alternatively 768 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 137 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 768 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 San Juan 33S is 19.0.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 18% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for San Juan 33S is 4.17.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 99% 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'.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for San Juan 33S is 117 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

93% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for San Juan 33S with ISO 8666 reference sail is 23.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 27.1.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 100% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The San Juan 33S has more rig than 73% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.

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 27m² (290 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	31.8 m	(104.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	31.8 m	(104.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	31.8 m	(104.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet	10.1 m	(33.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.1 m	(33.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet	25.2 m	(82.5 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	22.1 m	(72.6 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Cunningham	4.1 m	(13.5 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap	8.2 m	(27.0 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul	8.2 m	(27.0 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 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 San Juan 33S 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.