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Review of LM 30




Basic specs.

sail specifications
The LM 30 is a motorsailer designed by the Danish maritime architect Bent Juul Andersen in the late seventies. Several hundred boats have been produced. The LM 30 is built by the Danish yard LM Glasfiber A/S.

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Hull

The hull is made of hand laid fibreglass while the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of hand laid 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 deck is a sandwich construction 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.


Interior

The boat is equipped with 2 cabins, 5 berths, a galley, 200.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.


Rig
Rig
Rig of LM 30.

The LM 30 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

The LM 30 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Fin keel

One option is 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.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.50 - 1.60 meter (4.92 - 5.22 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Fin keel

Another option is 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 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.

LM 30 can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.50 - 1.60 meter (4.92 - 5.22 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The LM 30 has been equipped with different engine alternatives.

Alternative 1:

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD 17C diesel engine

The transmission is a saildrive.

Alternative 2:

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Bukh DV36SME diesel engine at 36 hp (26 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.7 knots

Alternative 3:

LM 30 may be equipped with an inboard Bukh DV20SME diesel engine at 20 hp (14 kW). The speed is 7.0 knots.

The transmission is a saildrive.

The fuel tank, which is made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 200.0 liters (52 US gallons, 43 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 LM 30 is 1.76, 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 6.9 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 LM 30 is about 163 kg/cm, alternatively 915 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 163 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 915 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 LM 30 is 30.5.

Low High 85% 0 50 100
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.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for LM 30 is 3.07.

Slim Wide 58% 0 50 100
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 LM 30 is 36%.

Low High 24% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 24% 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 LM 30 is 291 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

Heavy Light 34% 0 50 100
34% 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 LM 30 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 10.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 13.0.

Low High 4% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 4% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.
Don't panic! It is expected that motor sailers has a low SA/D value as this is the natural consequence of the design combining sailing and motor boat characteristics.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 24% 0 50 100
The LM 30 has more rig than 24% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly underrigged.
Don't panic! It is expected that motor sailers are underrigged as this is the natural consequence of the design combining sailing and motor boat characteristics.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for LM 30 is 12

Slow Fast 12% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 12 which means that a it is faster than 12% of all similar sailboat designs. As this boat is a motor sailer, it is expected that the performance of a motor sailer for sail alone is lower than a dedicated sailboat.


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 for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications genoa specifications spinnaker specifications

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
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 26.1 m(85.5 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard26.1 m(85.5 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard26.1 m(85.5 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.3 m(30.7 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.3 m(30.7 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 23.4 m(76.7 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet20.6 m(67.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham3.1 m(10.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap6.2 m(20.3 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.2 m(20.3 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 LM 30 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