Review of Finnsailer 29

Finnsailer 29 anno 2974. Goodgirl now under my (the photographer's, red.) ownership.

Basic specs.

The Finnsailer 29 aka Finnsailer 29 MS is a motorsailer designed by the British maritime architect Angus S. Primrose in the early seventies. The Finnsailer 29 is built by the Finnish yard Turku Boatyard.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Finnsailer 29 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. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 6 berths, a galley and toilet facility.

Rig

Rig of Finnsailer 29.

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

Keel of Finnsailer 29.

The Finnsailer 29 is equipped with a long keel. A long keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.12 - 1.22 meter (3.67 - 3.97 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Finnsailer 29 is typically equipped with an inboard Perkins 4.108 M diesel engine at 48.0 hp (35 kW), which gives a max speed about 8.4 knots.

The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenence than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 300.0 liters (79 US gallons, 65 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 Finnsailer 29 is 1.70, 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 6.8 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 Finnsailer 29 is about 148 kg/cm, alternatively 830 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 148 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 830 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 Finnsailer 29 is 29.6.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 85% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Finnsailer 29 is 3.20.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 62% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Finnsailer 29 is 29%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 4% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Finnsailer 29 is 248 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

54% 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 Finnsailer 29 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 10.3, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 12.2.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 4% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.
Don't panic! It is expected that motor sailers has a low SA/D value as this is the natural consequence of the design combining sailing and motor boat characteristics.

Over- / underrigged

The Finnsailer 29 has more rig than 82% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

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 23m² (247 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	21.6 m	(70.7 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	21.6 m	(70.7 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	21.6 m	(70.7 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet	8.9 m	(29.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	8.9 m	(29.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	22.2 m	(73.0 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	19.6 m	(64.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Cunningham	3.2 m	(10.5 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap	6.4 m	(21.0 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul	6.4 m	(21.0 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 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 Finnsailer 29 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.