Review of Sou'Wester 50

Basic specs.

The Sou'Wester 50 is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Henry R. Hinckley in the early eighties. The Sou'Wester 50 is built by the American yard Henry R. Hinckley & Co..

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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.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with a Ford Lehman diesel engine at 120.0 hp (89 kW), which gives a max speed about 8.1 knots.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 833 liters (220 US gallons, 183 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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Sou'Wester 50 is 1.57, 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 8.1 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 Sou'Wester 50 is about 294 kg/cm, alternatively 1649 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 294 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1649 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 Sou'Wester 50 is 45.3.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 88% 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 Sou'Wester 50 is 3.90.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 88% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Sou'Wester 50 is 338 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

10% 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 Sou'Wester 50 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 13.5, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.1.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 1% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail.

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	38.5 m	(126.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	38.5 m	(126.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	38.5 m	(126.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	15.4 m	(50.7 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	15.4 m	(50.7 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	38.6 m	(126.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	34.0 m	(111.4 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	5.2 m	(17.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	10.4 m	(34.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	10.4 m	(34.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 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

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References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.