Grand Surprise

Sailboat specifications

The Grand Surprise is a 31’4” (9.54m) racing sailboat designed by Joubert Nivelt Design (France). She was built between 1999 and 2017 by Archambault (France) and BG Race (France) with 110 hulls completed.

Grand Surprise's main features

Model: Grand Surprise
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Racing sailboat
Sailboat builder: Archambault
&
BG Race
Sailboat designer: Joubert Nivelt Design
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: 110
First built hull: 1999
Last built hull: 2017
Appendages: Keel : L-shaped keel (with bulb)
Helm: Single tiller
Rudder: Single spade rudder
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
67 500 €
(2017)

Grand Surprise's main dimensions

Hull length: 31’ 4”9.54 m
Waterline length: 29’ 4”8.93 m
Beam (width): 9’ 10”2.98 m
Draft: 6’ 8”2.05 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 5842 lb2650 kg
Capacity: 2205 lb1000 kg
Ballast weight: 2315 lb1050 kg

Grand Surprise's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 603 ft²56 m²
Downwind sail area: 1843 ft²171.2 m²
Mainsail area: 357 ft²33.2 m²
Genoa area: 245 ft²22.8 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 1485 ft²138 m²
Asymmetric spinnaker area: 829 ft²77 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 40’ 4”12.28 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 11’ 2”3.41 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 39’ 11”12.15 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 14’ 5”4.4 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi 7/8
Mast configuration: Keel stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire discontinuous

Grand Surprise's performances

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.: 315 ft²/T29.24 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.: 962 ft²/T89.4 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.: 105
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.: 40 %
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.: 7.25 knots