Review of Lotus

Lotus. Båden er fra 1977 hedder "Chiquita", men billedet er taget i Juelsminde Havn april 2001.

Basic specs.

The Lotus aka Lotus 40 or Lotus Skärg.kr is a large sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Harry Becker together with L. Zienkiewicz from in the early seventies.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Lotus or similar boat for sale

Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 4 berths.

Rig

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.

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 Lotus is 1.43, 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 7.2 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 Lotus is about 125 kg/cm, alternatively 701 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 125 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 701 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 Lotus is 27.6.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 42% 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 Lotus is 5.57.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 100% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design. This type of design is also referred to as 'needle'.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Lotus is 148 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

88% 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 Lotus with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.2, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 17.7.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 27% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Lotus is 18

The relative speed performance is 18 which means that a it is faster than 18% of all similar sailboat designs.

Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional 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	28.1 m	(92.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	28.1 m	(92.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	28.1 m	(92.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	12.0 m	(39.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	12.0 m	(39.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.9 m	(98.2 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	26.3 m	(86.4 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	3.5 m	(11.5 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	7.0 m	(23.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	7.0 m	(23.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 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 Lotus 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.