First 38s5 Wing keel

Sailboat specifications

The First 38s5 is a 37’8” (11.5m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Jean Berret (France). She was built between 1989 and 1995 by Bénéteau (France) with 120 hulls completed. The Wing keel version is offered with a short keel fitted with large winglets. This configuration provides an interesting draft / low center of gravity / upwind performance trade-off.

The First 38s5 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Deep draft and Regatta version (see all the versions compared).

First 38s5's main features

Model: First 38s5
Version: Wing keel
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Bénéteau
Sailboat designer: Jean Berret
Sailboat range: First
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich balsa fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: 120
First built hull: 1989
Last built hull: 1995
Appendages: Keel : wing keel
Helm: Single helm wheel
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Former French navigation category: 1
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

First 38s5's main dimensions

Overall length: 38’ 5”11.7 m
Hull length: 37’ 8”11.5 m
Waterline length: 30’ 2”9.2 m
Beam (width): 12’ 4”3.75 m
Waterline beam (width): 9’ 7”2.94 m
Draft: 5’ 2”1.57 m
Mast height from D_WL: 52’ 6”16 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 14551 lb6600 kg
Ballast weight: 4850 lb2200 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron

First 38s5's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 866 ft²80.49 m²
Downwind sail area: 1368 ft²127.12 m²
Mainsail area: 416 ft²38.67 m²
Genoa area: 450 ft²41.82 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 952 ft²88.45 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 47’ 1”14.37 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 12’ 10”3.9 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 47’ 11”14.6 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 15’ 5”4.7 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

First 38s5'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.: 246 ft²/T22.88 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.: 389 ft²/T36.13 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.: 240
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.: 33 %
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.: 7.36 knots