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Review of SJ 320


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The SJ 320 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect Stephen Jones in the mid nineties.

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Hull
The hull 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.

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.

Keel

The SJ 320 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 boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.93 - 2.03 meter (6.33 - 6.63 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 SJ 320 is 2.09, 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 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.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for SJ 320 is about 173 kg/cm, alternatively 973 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 173 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 973 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 SJ 320 is 18.8.

Low High 21% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 21% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for SJ 320 is 3.02.

Slim Wide 62% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 62% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for SJ 320 is 38%.

Low High 34% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 34% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for SJ 320 is 175 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

Heavy Light 82% 0 50 100
82% 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 SJ 320 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 21.3, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 24.5.

Low High 96% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 96% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 90% 0 50 100
The SJ 320 has more rig than 90% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.


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 31m2 (333 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 headsail 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 31.8 m(104.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard31.8 m(104.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard31.8 m(104.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.5 m(31.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.5 m(31.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 23.8 m(78.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet20.9 m(68.7 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham4.6 m(15.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap9.1 m(30.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul9.1 m(30.0 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 SJ 320 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