Review of Dolphin 17

Basic specs.

The Dolphin 17 is a small sailboat designed by the maritime architect Glen Corcorran in the early seventies. Several hundred boats have been produced. The Dolphin 17 is built by the American yard Silverline Boats.

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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.

Rig

The boat 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 Dolphin 17 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 sail close to the beach as the draft is just 0.33 - 0.43 meter (1.08 - 1.38 ft) dependent of 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 Dolphin 17 is 2.67, indicating that this boat would not 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 5.2 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 Dolphin 17 is about 56 kg/cm, alternatively 313 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 56 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 313 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 Dolphin 17 is 6.6.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 21% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Dolphin 17 is 2.79.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 76% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Dolphin 17 is 96 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

85% 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 Dolphin 17 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 25.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 29.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 100% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

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 11m² (118 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.

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	15.9 m	(52.2 feet)	6 mm	(1/4 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	15.9 m	(52.2 feet)	6 mm	(1/4 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	15.9 m	(52.2 feet)	6 mm	(1/4 inch)
Jib sheet	5.1 m	(16.8 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Genoa sheet	5.1 m	(16.8 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Mainsheet	12.8 m	(41.9 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	11.2 m	(36.9 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Cunningham	2.1 m	(7.0 feet)	6 mm	(1/4 inch)
Kickingstrap	4.3 m	(14.0 feet)	6 mm	(1/4 inch)
Clew-outhaul	4.3 m	(14.0 feet)	6 mm	(1/4 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 Dolphin 17 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.