First 32S5 Fin keel

Sailboat specifications

The First 32S5 is a 31’10” (9.68m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Berret Racoupeau Yachts Design (France). She was built between 1989 and 1993 by Bénéteau (France) with 280 hulls completed. The Fin keel version features an L-shaped keel providing a good performance/price trade-off.

The First 32S5 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Lead keel and Wing keel version (see all the versions compared).

First 32S5's main features

Model: First 32S5
Version: Fin keel
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Bénéteau
Sailboat designer: Berret Racoupeau Yachts Design
Sailboat range: First
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich honeycomb fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: 280
First built hull: 1989
Last built hull: 1993
Appendages: Keel : fin with bulb
Helm: Single tiller (helm wheel in option)
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Former French navigation category: 2
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

First 32S5's main dimensions

Overall length: 32’ 6”9.9 m
Hull length: 31’ 10”9.68 m
Waterline length: 27’ 11”8.49 m
Beam (width): 10’ 10”3.3 m
Waterline beam (width): 8’ 6”2.6 m
Draft: 5’ 7”1.7 m
Mast height from D_WL: 48’ 11”14.9 m
Fore freeboard: 3’ 8”1.13 m
Mid-ship freeboard: 3’ 1”0.96 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 9259 lb4200 kg
Maximum displacement (M_LDC): 11244 lb5100 kg
Ballast weight: 2976 lb1350 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron
French customs tonnage: 8.65 Tx

First 32S5's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 602 ft²55.9 m²
Downwind sail area: 936 ft²87 m²
Mainsail area: 301 ft²28 m²
Genoa area: 300 ft²27.9 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 635 ft²59 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 38’ 8”11.8 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 10’ 4”3.15 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 38’ 11”11.85 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 13’ 10”4.2 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi 7/8
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars

First 32S5'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.: 18.5
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.: 231 ft²/T21.47 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.: 360 ft²/T33.42 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.: 194
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.: 32 %
Wetted area: 229 ft²21.3 m²
Prismatic coefficient iThe prismatic coefficient is obtained by dividing the volume of the boat (mass divided by the density of water) by the waterline length multiplied by the area of the maximum transverse section. This coefficient describes the effectiveness of a sailboat for a certain speed range: lower is the coefficient (<0.45), more effective the yacht is below its hull speed; higher the coefficient is, more the boat is suitable for planning speed.: 0.54
Righting moment @ 1° iThe righting moment is a moment (torque) that tends to restore a boat to its previous position after heeling. Its value corresponds to the torque needed to heel the boat for this angle. Higher the righting moment is for an angle, greater is the stability.: 546 lb.ft76 kg.m
Righting moment @ 30° iThe righting moment is a moment (torque) that tends to restore a boat to its previous position after heeling. Its value corresponds to the torque needed to heel the boat for this angle. Higher the righting moment is for an angle, greater is the stability.: 11848 lb.ft1638 kg.m
Maximum righting moment iThe righting moment is a moment (torque) that tends to restore a boat to its previous position after heeling. Its value corresponds to the torque needed to heel the boat for this angle. Higher the righting moment is for an angle, greater is the stability.: 16130 lb.ft2230 kg.m @ 50.00 °
Maximum transverse section: 13 ft²1.25 m²
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.: 7.07 knots