Review of Stevens 47

Basic specs.

The Stevens 47 aka Hylas 47 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Sparkman & Stephens in the early eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Stevens 47 is built by the Taiwanese yard Queen Long Marine Co, Ltd..

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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.

Keel

The Stevens 47 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 only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.83 - 1.93 meter (6.00 - 6.30 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Ford Lehman diesel engine at 30.0 hp (22 kW), which gives a max speed about 4.4 knots.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 378.0 liters (99 US gallons, 83 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 Stevens 47 is 1.79, 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 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.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Stevens 47 is about 334 kg/cm, alternatively 1874 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 334 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1874 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 Stevens 47 is 35.3.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Stevens 47 is 3.29.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 66% 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 Stevens 47 is 45%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 90% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Stevens 47 is 265 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

34% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Stevens 47 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.9.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 21% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Stevens 47 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 53m² (570 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.

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	42.1 m	(138.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	42.1 m	(138.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	42.1 m	(138.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	14.3 m	(46.8 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	14.3 m	(46.8 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	35.7 m	(117.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	31.4 m	(103.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	5.5 m	(18.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	11.0 m	(36.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	11.0 m	(36.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 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 Stevens 47 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.