Review of Helmsman 26
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. 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 Helmsman 26 is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.
Unknown keel type
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 enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.45 - 1.55 meter (4.76 - 5.06 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 Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Helmsman 26 is 2.15, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Helmsman 26 is about 150 kg/cm, alternatively 840 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 150 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 840 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 Helmsman 26 is 2.86.
The ballast ratio for Helmsman 26 is 37%.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Helmsman 26 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.0, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.2.
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for Helmsman 26 is 42
Maintenance
Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 24.8 m | (81.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 24.8 m | (81.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 24.8 m | (81.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 8.0 m | (26.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 8.0 m | (26.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 20.0 m | (65.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 17.6 m | (57.7 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Cunningham | 2.5 m | (8.2 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 5.0 m | (16.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 5.0 m | (16.4 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
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