Melges 40

Sailboat specifications

The Melges 40 is a 39’4” (11.99m) one design sailboat designed by Botin Partners Naval Architecture (Spain). She is built since 2016 by Melges (United States) and Premier Composite Technologies (United Arab Emirates).

Melges 40's main features

Model: Melges 40
Hull type: Monohull
Category: One design sailboat
Sailboat builder: Melges
&
Premier Composite Technologies
Sailboat designer: Botin Partners Naval Architecture
Country: United States
Construction: Carbon fiber reinforced epoxy:
Sandwich carbon fiber epoxy (vacuum infusion)
First built hull: 2016
Last built hull: Still in production
Appendages: Canting keel : canting T-shaped keel (with bulb) with central daggeboard
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): About
565 000 €
(2016)

Melges 40's main dimensions

Hull length: 39’ 4”11.99 m
Waterline length: 36’ 5”11.1 m
Beam (width): 11’ 7”3.53 m
Draft: 10’ 6”3.2 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 7165 lb3250 kg
Ballast weight: 2425 lb1100 kg
Ballast type: Carbon fiber fin with lead bulb

Melges 40's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 1302 ft²121 m²
Downwind sail area: 2928 ft²272 m²
Mainsail area: 775 ft²72 m²
Jib area: 527 ft²49 m²
Gennaker area: 2153 ft²200 m²
Rigging type: Ketch Marconi (square top mainsail) 9/10
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Carbon fiber spars
Standing rigging: Carbon fiber discontinuous

Melges 40's performances

Crew: 9 (<680kg)
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.: 594 ft²/T55.15 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.: 1334 ft²/T123.97 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.: 67
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.: 34 %
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.: 8.09 knots