First 53F5 Shoal draft

Sailboat specifications

The First 53F5 is a 51’8” (15.75m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Farr Yacht Design (United States). She was built between 1990 and 1993 by Bénéteau (France). The Shoal draft 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 53F5 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Deep draft version (see all the versions compared).

First 53F5's main features

Model: First 53F5
Version: Shoal draft
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Offshore cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Bénéteau
Sailboat designer: Farr Yacht Design
Sailboat range: First
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich balsa fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: About 50
First built hull: 1990
Last built hull: 1993
Appendages: Keel : wing keel
Helm: Twin helm wheels
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Former French navigation category: 1
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

First 53F5's main dimensions

Overall length: 53’ 1”16.2 m
Hull length: 51’ 8”15.75 m
Waterline length: 43’ 4”13.2 m
Beam (width): 14’ 8”4.48 m
Draft: 6’ 2”1.9 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 30865 lb14000 kg
Ballast weight: 9480 lb4300 kg

First 53F5's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 1507 ft²140 m²
Downwind sail area: 2583 ft²240 m²
Mainsail area: 646 ft²60 m²
Genoa area: 861 ft²80 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 1938 ft²180 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 63’ 4”19.3 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 17’ 7”5.35 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 57’ 1”17.4 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 19’5.8 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Keel stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: Single-strand (ROD) discontinuous

First 53F5'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.: 259 ft²/T24.1 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.: 445 ft²/T41.32 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.: 172
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.: 31 %
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.: 70356 lb.ft9727 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.: 91281 lb.ft12620 kg.m @ 55.00 °
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.: 8.82 knots