Review of First 38 S
Basic specs.
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Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The deck is a sandwich construction 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. The core material in the sandwich construction is balsa.
The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 6-10 berths, 400.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.
The First 38 S is built 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.
Fin keel
The First 38 S is built 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 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 2.10 - 2.20 meter (6.89 - 7.19 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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for First 38 S is 2.05, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.8 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for First 38 S is about 269 kg/cm, alternatively 1510 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 269 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1510 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.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for First 38 S is 22.8.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for First 38 S is 3.01.
The ballast ratio for First 38 S is 42%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for First 38 S is 180 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for First 38 S with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.4, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.5.
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for First 38 S is 58
Maintenance
As balsa wood is used as sandwich core material special care must be taken in relation to work that require penetration of the sandwich construction in order to to prevent water to get in contact with the balsa wood. Otherwise the balsa wood will eventually rotten and be expensive/impossible to repair.
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 46m2 (495 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.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 33.5 m | (110.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 33.5 m | (110.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 33.5 m | (110.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 11.8 m | (38.5 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 11.8 m | (38.5 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 29.4 m | (96.4 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 25.9 m | (84.8 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.2 m | (13.8 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 8.4 m | (27.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 8.4 m | (27.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
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