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Review of Lord Helmsman


Lord Helmsman
Lord Helmsman anno 1979. La Résolue dans le port de St-Blaise (Suisse)


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Lord Helmsman is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Håkan Södergren in the late seventies. Less than 100 boats have been produced.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Lord Helmsman or similar boat for sale

Hull
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. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Interior
The boat is equipped with 5 berths.
Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.

Rig
Rig
Rig of Lord Helmsman anno 1979. La Résolue, sous spinnaker sur le lac de Neuchâtel (Suisse).
The boat equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel
Keel
Keel of Lord Helmsman anno 1979. La Résolue à sec, Port du Nid-du-Crô, Neuchâtel (Suisse)

The Lord Helmsman 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.

Lord Helmsman can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.50 - 1.60 meter (4.92 - 5.22 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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Lord Helmsman is 1.77, 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 6.7 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 Lord Helmsman is about 153 kg/cm, alternatively 860 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 153 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 860 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 Lord Helmsman is 29.4.

Low High 79% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 79% 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 Lord Helmsman is 3.20.

Wide Slim 54% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 54% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Lord Helmsman is 51%.

Low High 92% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 92% 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 Lord Helmsman is 299 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

Heavy Light 27% 0 50 100
27% 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 Lord Helmsman with ISO 8666 reference sail is 13.8, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.0.

Low High 18% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 18% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 18% 0 50 100
The Lord Helmsman 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 Lord Helmsman is 21

Slow Fast 21% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 21 which means that a it is faster than 21% 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 26m2 (279 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 fractional rig.

mainsail specifications genoa specifications spinnaker specifications

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
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 31.3 m(102.7 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard31.3 m(102.7 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard31.3 m(102.7 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.6 m(31.3 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.6 m(31.3 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 23.9 m(78.3 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet21.0 m(68.9 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham3.6 m(11.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap7.2 m(23.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul7.2 m(23.6 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 Lord Helmsman 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