Scott wrote:
I think I found your boat on sailboatdata.com: Hunter Horizon 23. I would really like to find something with a Bal./Disp. ratio like what you have, even if the overall displacement is less. 52.29% is significantly more than what I see in used boats nearby.
For comparison I took at very serious look at a Precision 23 for sale here. The Bal./Disp. ratio on this boat is 34.74%. I am trying to decide if this means that I am overestimating the need for ultimate stability when sailing on the Great Lakes or if this means all the boats here were designed for staying close to shore and sailing only in reasonably calm weather.
I wonder if my desire to have a 50% ballast ratio in a 20-ish foot boat is being 'over-boated' for the sailing I want to do. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Thanks again.
Weaverbird is a Hunter Duette 23 - same hull as the Horizon 23, but with a lower deck and less accommodation, as in fin keel format, it is the Sonata, a popular club racer.
A 50% ballast ratio is rare. It needs a high standard of construction to achieve it (which is obvious when you think about it), and was only common in old-style raceboats that were narrow and had little form stability. Recent raceboats rely much more on greater beam and crew weight on the rail.
40% ballast ratio is a good point to aim at for a serious offshore cruiser, fit to cope with an ocean gale. Even that ballast ratio is getting rare in modern lightweight production coastal cruisers. You'll find that many of them are at 30% or less. This is fine for short coastal passages where weather forecasting is good, and you can be confident of winds less than gale force with seas to match.
In any case, this subject of stability and seaworthiness is a complex one, and ballast ratio is only one element of it. A good guide is the Recreational Craft Directive that all new boats sold in the European Union must comply with, and even when they make their way over to the USA, they will still have been checked for which category they belong in:
Category B – Offshore: includes boats operating offshore with winds to 40 knots and significant seas to 13 feet.
Category C – Inshore: is for boats operating in coastal waters and large bays and lakes with winds to Force 6, up to 27 knots, and significant seas 7 feet high.
It's rare to find a boat in the 20 - 25ft range that will get into category B. Siblim just scrapes in, but that's a larger heavier boat than you're considering. Unless you're aiming to roam far and wide in the Great Lakes, category C will suffice. See if you can find a European import in this size range with CE category C marking, just so that you can compare its characteristics with older USA-built boats.