Review of Morgan 54
Basic specs.
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The Morgan 54 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 lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.34 - 2.44 meter (7.68 - 7.98 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Westerbeke diesel engine.
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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Morgan 54 is 1.51, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.2 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Morgan 54 is about 289 kg/cm, alternatively 1622 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 289 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1622 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.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Morgan 54 is 4.28.
The ballast ratio for Morgan 54 is 44%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Morgan 54 is 311 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 52m2 (559 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.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jib sheet | 16.3 m | (53.5 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 16.3 m | (53.5 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 40.8 m | (133.8 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 35.9 m | (117.7 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.
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