Review of Vagabond 31

Vagabond 31 anno 19986.

Basic specs.

The Vagabond 31 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Harry Becker in the early eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Vagabond 31 is built by the Swedish yard Hamnpiren AB.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Vagabond 31 or similar boat for sale

Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak.
The boat is equipped with 6-7 berths, a galley and toilet facility.
Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.

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 keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated.

Vagabond 31 can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.60 - 1.70 meter (5.25 - 5.55 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta 2003 engine at 28.0 hp (20 kW), which gives a max speed about 5.6 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.

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 Vagabond 31 is 1.69, 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 7.0 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 Vagabond 31 is about 169 kg/cm, alternatively 949 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 169 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 949 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 Vagabond 31 is 33.7.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 95% 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 Vagabond 31 is 2.98.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 62% 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 Vagabond 31 is 43%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 62% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Vagabond 31 is 292 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

34% 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.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Vagabond 31 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 14.0, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.5.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 24% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Vagabond 31 has more rig than 18% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly underrigged.

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Vagabond 31 is 42

The relative speed performance is 42 which means that a it is faster than 42% of all similar sailboat designs.

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 29m² (312 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	31.2 m	(102.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	31.2 m	(102.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	31.2 m	(102.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet	9.1 m	(29.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet	9.1 m	(29.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet	22.8 m	(74.6 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	20.0 m	(65.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Cunningham	3.7 m	(12.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap	7.4 m	(24.3 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul	7.4 m	(24.3 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 Vagabond 31 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.