Review of Albin Alpha

Albin Alpha.

Basic specs.

The Albin Alpha aka Albin Alpha 29 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Peter Norlin in the mid eighties. A few hundred boats have been produced. The Albin Alpha is built by the Swedish yard Albin Marin AB.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Albin Alpha or similar boat for sale

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.

Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak.
The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 5-6 berths, a galley 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.

Rig

The boat 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 genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel

The Albin Alpha is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with 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.

Albin Alpha 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.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar diesel engine at 9.0 hp (6 kW), which gives a max speed about 4.0 knots.

The fuel tank which is made of stainless steel has a capacity of 45.0 liters (11 US gallons, 9 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 Albin Alpha is 1.92, 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 6.5 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 Albin Alpha is about 136 kg/cm, alternatively 764 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 136 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 764 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 Albin Alpha is 22.7.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 50% of all similar sailboat designs. This is an average comfort value!

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Albin Alpha is 3.16.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 58% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Albin Alpha is 42%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Albin Alpha is 246 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

54% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Albin Alpha with ISO 8666 reference sail is 17.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.8.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 62% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Albin Alpha has more rig than 62% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Albin Alpha is 69

The relative speed performance is 69 which means that a it is faster than 69% of all similar sailboat designs.

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 24m² (258 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 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.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	29.6 m	(96.9 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	29.6 m	(96.9 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	29.6 m	(96.9 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet	8.9 m	(29.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	8.9 m	(29.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	22.3 m	(73.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	19.7 m	(64.5 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Cunningham	3.6 m	(11.8 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap	7.2 m	(23.6 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul	7.2 m	(23.6 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

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

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Albin Alpha 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

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