Review of Drabant 330

The hull is made of fibreglass while the deck is made of die cast 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 hull is a double hull 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 deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.

Floor plan of Drabant 330.

The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany. Mahogany belongs to the hardwood species, known for being water-repellent and resistant to decay. It has an attractive wood grain and holds wood polish and varnish well.
The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 100.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.

The Drabant 330 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.

Keel of Drabant 330 anno 1993.

Fin keel

The Drabant 330 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 keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.

Drabant 330 can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.65 - 1.75 meter (5.41 - 5.71 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta engine at 27 hp (20 kW). The speed is 7.5 knots.

The transmission is a saildrive.

The fuel tank, which is made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 100.0 liters (26 US gallons, 21 imperial gallons).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Drabant 330 is 1.84, 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 7.0 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 Drabant 330 is about 181 kg/cm, alternatively 1014 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 181 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1014 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Drabant 330 is 27.7.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Drabant 330 is 3.07.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Drabant 330 is 44%.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Drabant 330 is 258 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Drabant 330 is 54

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 31m² (333 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 Drabant 330 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.