Review of First 456 S
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The First 456 S has been built with different keel alternatives.
Deep keel
One option is a deep keel. A deep keel provide a better healing moment than a shallow 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.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.40 - 2.50 meter (7.87 - 8.17 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Shallow keel
Another option is a shallow keel. A shallow keel allow to sail both coastal and inland waters.
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.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.95 - 2.05 meter (6.40 - 6.70 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.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.4 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for First 456 S is about 345 kg/cm, alternatively 1935 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 345 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1935 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 L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for First 456 S is 3.24.
The ballast ratio for First 456 S is 39%.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 60m2 (645 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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jib sheet | 13.9 m | (45.7 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 13.9 m | (45.7 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 34.8 m | (114.2 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 30.6 m | (100.5 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
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