Review of Seafarer 23 Kestrel

Basic specs.

The Seafarer 23 Kestrel aka Seafarer Kestrel 23 is a small sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Sparkman & Stephens in the early sixties. The Seafarer 23 Kestrel is built by the Dutch yard G. de Vries Lentch Jr..

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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. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Keel

The Seafarer 23 Kestrel is equipped with a centerboard keel. A centerboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.71 - 0.81 meter (2.33 - 2.63 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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Seafarer 23 Kestrel is 1.81, 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 5.4 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 Seafarer 23 Kestrel is about 71 kg/cm, alternatively 401 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 71 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 401 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 Seafarer 23 Kestrel is 23.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 93% 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 Seafarer 23 Kestrel is 3.30.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 88% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Seafarer 23 Kestrel is 38%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Seafarer 23 Kestrel is 367 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

2% 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.

Maintenance

Rig

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
Jib sheet	7.0 m	(23.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	7.0 m	(23.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	17.6 m	(57.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	15.5 m	(50.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

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References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.