Review of Elite 326

Basic specs.

The Elite 326 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect bureau Harlé & Mortain in the early nineties. The Elite 326 is built by the French yard Kirié.

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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.

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 Elite 326 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 boat 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.

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 Elite 326 is 2.30, 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 7.0 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 Elite 326 is about 189 kg/cm, alternatively 1062 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 189 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1062 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 Elite 326 is 15.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 5% 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 Elite 326 is 3.11.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 62% 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 Elite 326 is 36%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 27% 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 Elite 326 is 154 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

86% 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 Elite 326 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 18.5, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 22.1.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 73% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Elite 326 has more rig than 98% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

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 32m² (344 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	28.0 m	(91.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	28.0 m	(91.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	28.0 m	(91.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	10.5 m	(34.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.5 m	(34.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	26.3 m	(86.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	23.1 m	(75.9 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	3.3 m	(10.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	6.6 m	(21.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	6.6 m	(21.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 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 Elite 326 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.