Udkik.dk

Review of Bird of Dawning


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Bird of Dawning is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Phil Bolger together with Peter Duff also from in the early eighties.

Here we would have liked to show you nice photos of the Bird of Dawning.
If you have a photo you would like to share: Upload Image

Looking for a new boat? Find a Bird of Dawning or similar boat for sale

Hull
The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The hull is a double hull which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.

Keel

The Bird of Dawning is equipped with a leeboard keel. Leeboards keels are fins on the sides of flat-bottomed hulls boats, making the keel unnecessary. Leeboards can be lowered and raised, allowing the boat to enter shallow waters as well.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.61 - 0.71 meter (2.00 - 2.30 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 Bird of Dawning is 1.55, 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 8.0 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 Bird of Dawning is about 221 kg/cm, alternatively 1238 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 221 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1238 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 Bird of Dawning is 32.1.

Low High 66% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 66% 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 Bird of Dawning is 4.00.

Wide Slim 96% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 96% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design. This type of design is also referred to as 'needle'.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Bird of Dawning is 154 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

Heavy Light 86% 0 50 100
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)

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 23.40


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 41m2 (441 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

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
UsageLengthDiameter
Jib sheet 12.0 m(39.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet12.0 m(39.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet 30.0 m(98.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet26.4 m(86.5 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 Bird of Dawning 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