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Review of Morgan 54


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Morgan 54 is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Charles Morgan in the late sixties. The Morgan 54 is built by the American yard Morgan Yacht Corp..

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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 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.


Engine

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.

Stability and Safety

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.


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 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Morgan 54 is 4.28.

Wide Slim 99% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 99% 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'.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Morgan 54 is 44%.

Low High 88% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 88% 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 Morgan 54 is 311 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

Heavy Light 12% 0 50 100
12% 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.


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 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.


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 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 sheet35.9 m(117.7 feet)16 mm(5/8 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 Morgan 54 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