Review of Baltic 38

Basic specs.

The Baltic 38 is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect Douglas Blair Peterson in the early eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Baltic 38 is built by the Finnish yard Baltic Yachts 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 Baltic 38 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 2.19 - 2.29 meter (7.19 - 7.49 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar 3HMF diesel engine at 30.0 hp (22 kW), which gives a max speed about 6.0 knots.

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 Baltic 38 is 2.03, 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 7.5 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 Baltic 38 is about 241 kg/cm, alternatively 1350 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 241 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1350 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 Baltic 38 is 23.2.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 24% 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 Baltic 38 is 3.09.

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.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Baltic 38 is 45%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 79% 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 Baltic 38 is 204 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

73% 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 Baltic 38 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 19.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 23.8.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 79% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Baltic 38 has more rig than 50% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that this rig is spot on average!

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 43m² (462 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	36.6 m	(120.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	36.6 m	(120.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	36.6 m	(120.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	11.6 m	(38.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	11.6 m	(38.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.0 m	(95.1 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	25.5 m	(83.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	4.2 m	(13.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	8.4 m	(27.6 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	8.4 m	(27.6 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 Baltic 38 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.