Review of Johnson 26

Basic specs.

The Johnson 26 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Bo Johnson in the mid seventies. A few hundred boats have been produced. The Johnson 26 is built by Johnsonbåtar.

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Interior

The headroom is above average
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.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar diesel engine at 8.0 hp (5 kW), which gives a max speed about 4.3 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 Johnson 26 is 2.16, 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 6.5 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 Johnson 26 is about 142 kg/cm, alternatively 796 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 142 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 796 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 Johnson 26 is 17.6.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 38% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Johnson 26 is 2.69.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 86% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Johnson 26 is 194 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

69% 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 Johnson 26 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.2, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 38% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Johnson 26 is 46

The relative speed performance is 46 which means that a it is faster than 46% of all similar sailboat designs.

Maintenance

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	23.8 m	(78.1 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	23.8 m	(78.1 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	23.8 m	(78.1 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet	8.0 m	(26.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	8.0 m	(26.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	19.9 m	(65.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	17.5 m	(57.4 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Cunningham	2.6 m	(8.7 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap	5.3 m	(17.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul	5.3 m	(17.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Johnson 26 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.