Review of Contest 34
Basic specs.
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The Contest 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 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 enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.75 - 1.85 meter (5.74 - 6.04 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD2B diesel engine at 25.0 hp (18 kW), which gives a max speed about 4.8 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 125 liters (33 US gallons, 27 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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Contest 34 is 1.76, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - 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 7.0 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Contest 34 is about 191 kg/cm, alternatively 1072 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 191 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1072 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 Contest 34 is 34.2.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Contest 34 is 3.05.
The ballast ratio for Contest 34 is 43%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Contest 34 is 346 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 32m2 (344 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.
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 | ||
| Jib sheet | 10.4 m | (34.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 10.4 m | (34.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 25.9 m | (85.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 22.8 m | (74.8 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.
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We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Contest 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.