Review of Kirié 396

Basic specs.

The Kirié 396 is a sailboat designed in the late nineties. The Kirié 396 is built by the French yard Kirié.

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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 boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.23 - 2.33 meter (7.32 - 7.62 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.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.8 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 Kirié 396 is about 262 kg/cm, alternatively 1468 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 262 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1468 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Kirié 396 is 3.08.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 69% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

Over- / underrigged

The Kirié 396 has more rig than 31% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly underrigged.

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 47m² (505 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	34.1 m	(111.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	34.1 m	(111.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	34.1 m	(111.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	11.7 m	(38.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	11.7 m	(38.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.3 m	(96.2 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	25.8 m	(84.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	4.5 m	(14.6 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	8.9 m	(29.2 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	8.9 m	(29.2 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 Kirié 396 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.