Udkik.dk

Review of Drabant 30


Drabant 30
Drabant 30 anno 1979.


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Drabant 30 is a sailboat designed by the Danish maritime architect Gert Gerlach in the late seventies. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Drabant 30 is built by the Danish yard A/S Nilling's Bådeværft.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Drabant 30 or similar boat for sale

Hull
Both the hull and the deck is made of hand laid 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 hull is a double hull 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.
The deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.

Interior
The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany.
The boat is equipped with 2 cabins, 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 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 Drabant 30 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.

Drabant 30 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 15.0 hp (11 kW), which gives a max speed about 5.1 knots.

The transmission is a saildrive.

The fuel tank which is made of stainless steel has a capacity of 30.0 liters (7 US gallons, 6 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 Drabant 30 is 1.98, 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 6.6 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 Drabant 30 is about 144 kg/cm, alternatively 807 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 144 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 807 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 Drabant 30 is 21.9.

Low High 46% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Drabant 30 is 3.01.

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 Drabant 30 is 40%.

Low High 46% 0 50 100
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 Drabant 30 is 243 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 58% 0 50 100
58% 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 Drabant 30 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.0.

Low High 50% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 50% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 42% 0 50 100
The Drabant 30 has more rig than 42% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly underrigged.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Drabant 30 is 58

Slow Fast 58% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 58 which means that a it is faster than 58% 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 25m2 (269 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 27.2 m(89.2 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard27.2 m(89.2 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard27.2 m(89.2 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 8.9 m(29.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.9 m(29.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 22.2 m(72.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet19.5 m(64.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham3.0 m(9.8 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap6.0 m(19.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.0 m(19.7 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 Drabant 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