Review of True North 34

Basic specs.

The True North 34 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect Stan Huntingford in the mid seventies. The True North 34 is built by the Canadian yard Windward Marine 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.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 568.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Keel

Full keel

The True North 34 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 1.68 - 1.78 meter (5.51 - 5.81 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

True North 34 is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar diesel engine

The fuel tank has a capacity of 473.0 liters (124 US gallons, 104 imperial gallons).

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 True North 34 is 1.48, 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 7.4 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 True North 34 is about 208 kg/cm, alternatively 1168 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 208 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1168 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 True North 34 is 51.7.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 100% 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 True North 34 is 3.14.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 58% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for True North 34 is 33%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 15% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for True North 34 is 408 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

4% 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 True North 34 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 13.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.0.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 14% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The True North 34 has more rig than 34% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly 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 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.

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	32.1 m	(105.5 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	32.1 m	(105.5 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	32.1 m	(105.5 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	10.5 m	(34.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.5 m	(34.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	26.3 m	(86.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	23.1 m	(75.9 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	5.5 m	(18.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	11.0 m	(36.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	11.0 m	(36.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 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 True North 34 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.