Review of Olson 34

Basic specs.

The Olson 34 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect George Olson in the late eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced.

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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.

Rig

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

The Olson 34 is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than 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 Yanmar 2GMF diesel engine at 15.0 hp (11 kW), which gives a max speed about 5.0 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 Olson 34 is 2.09, 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 7.1 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 Olson 34 is about 190 kg/cm, alternatively 1065 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 190 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1065 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 Olson 34 is 19.5.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 15% 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 Olson 34 is 3.15.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 58% 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 Olson 34 is 47%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 82% 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 Olson 34 is 187 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

79% 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 Olson 34 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 19.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 23.7.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 86% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Olson 34 has more rig than 90% 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 33m² (355 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	30.9 m	(101.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	30.9 m	(101.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	30.9 m	(101.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet	10.5 m	(34.4 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.5 m	(34.4 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet	26.2 m	(86.1 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	23.1 m	(75.8 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Cunningham	3.9 m	(12.9 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap	7.9 m	(25.8 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul	7.9 m	(25.8 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 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 Olson 34 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.