Sailing manual
Exploring Sailing
Learn to look at a sailboat and ask useful questions before comparing it.
Start learningA sailboat brings together design choices, space, systems and compromises. This manual starts with the use you imagine and explains what data means: what a dimension measures, what a ratio calculates and what remains unknown. Read concepts alongside real model examples while keeping specifications, editorial analysis and owner experiences separate. Start with boat types or open a metric when it appears in the Finder. The aim is to understand a choice, not to find a universal winner.
Reducing sail area is a normal part of sailing.
Design labels describe priorities. They are not a scale from worst to best.
Four different measurements explain a sailboat’s size.
Ballast percentage is a starting point, not a safety conclusion.
Lesson · 3 min
Displacement and ballast
Total weight and weight intended for stability are different concepts.
Lesson · 3 min
Ballast/displacement ratio
The percentage of displacement accounted for by ballast.
Lesson · 3 min
Displacement/Length Ratio: weight for length
D/L relates displacement to waterline length.
Lesson · 3 min
Sail Area/Displacement: sail for weight
SA/D compares sail area with a displacement-related scale.
Lesson · 3 min
Comfort Ratio
Ted Brewer’s index relates displacement, length and beam.
Lesson · 3 min
Capsize Screening Formula
A formula comparing the boat’s beam with its displacement.
Lesson · 3 min
STIX, AVS and stability
What STIX and AVS indicate about stability and recovery after heeling.
Keel, ballast and lateral resistance are not the same thing.
The floor plan is only the beginning of a comfort assessment.
A range estimate needs measured consumption and usable fuel.
Lesson · 3 min
Diesel power and horsepower per tonne
The relationship between engine power and boat weight.
Lesson · 3 min
Shaft drive, saildrive and propellers
Drive and propeller are part of the propulsion system.
Lesson · 3 min
Cruising speed, consumption and range
A range estimate needs measured consumption and usable fuel.
Equipment, comfort and life aboard
Planned chapter · in preparation
Construction, materials, ageing and maintenance
Planned chapter · in preparation
Read the design category with its applicable documentation.