A27 Swing keel

Sailboat specifications

The A27 is a 27’5” (8.35m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Joubert Nivelt Design (France). She was built since 2012 (and now discontinued) by Archambault (France). The Swing keel version adopts an appendage configuration without compromise between draft and performance. The only drawbacks are the space taken inside and the price of the system...

The A27 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Fin keel and Twin keel version (see all the versions compared).

A27's main features

Model: A27
Version: Swing keel
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Archambault
Sailboat designer: Joubert Nivelt Design
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester (vacuum infusion)
- Deck: Sandwich PVC fiberglass polyester (vacuum infusion)
First built hull: 2012
Last built hull: Discontinued
Appendages: Lifting keel : swing keel
Helm: Single tiller
Rudder: Twin spade rudders
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
EC design category iThe CE design category indicates the ability to cope with certain weather conditions (the sailboat is designed for these conditions) A: Wind < force 9, Waves < 10m B: Wind < force 8, Waves < 8m C: Wind < force 6, Waves < 4m D: Wind < force 4, Waves < 0,5m: B
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

A27's main dimensions

Hull length: 27’ 5”8.35 m
Waterline length: 25’7.61 m
Beam (width): 9’ 10”2.98 m
Draft: 6’ 11”2.1 m
Draft when appendages up: 3’ 1”0.95 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 4740 lb2150 kg
Ballast weight: 1825 lb828 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron

A27's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 447 ft²41.5 m²
Downwind sail area: 1044 ft²97 m²
Mainsail area: 258 ft²24 m²
Genoa area: 188 ft²17.5 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 786 ft²73 m²
Asymmetric spinnaker area: 786 ft²73 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 35’ 5”10.79 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 10’ 10”3.3 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 35’ 10”10.9 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 12’ 7”3.85 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi fractional
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars

A27's performances

HN (French rating) iHN or "Handicap Nationale" is an empirical rating system used in France allowing various monohulls, of different sizes and designs, to race each other fairly. It is particularly suitable for cruiser and cruiser-racer. Therefore, by comparing these values, we can have an indication of the relative speed of 2 boats.: 23.0
Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 268 ft²/T24.91 m²/T
Downwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size.: 627 ft²/T58.23 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 138
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 39 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 6.70 knots