Flirt Keel and centerboard

Sailboat specifications

The Flirt is a 19’8” (6m) cruising sailboat designed by Jeanneau Design Office (France). She was built between 1976 and 1983 by Jeanneau (France) with 1743 hulls completed. The Keel and centerboard version features a centerboard inside of a short fin-keel allowing shoal draft while maintaining upwind capabilities.

The Flirt is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Fin keel version (see all the versions compared).

Flirt's main features

Model: Flirt
Version: Keel and centerboard
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Coastal cruising sailboat
Sailboat builder: Jeanneau
Sailboat designer: Jeanneau Design Office
Country: France
Construction: Hull and deck: GRP (glass reinforced polyester)
Number of hulls built: 1743
First built hull: 1976
Last built hull: 1983
Appendages: Centerboard : pivoting centerboard in the keel
Helm: Single tiller
Rudder: Single transom hung rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: Yes
Former French navigation category: 4
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Flirt's main dimensions

Hull length: 19’ 8”6 m
Waterline length: 17’ 11”5.45 m
Beam (width): 7’ 6”2.3 m
Draft: 4’ 1”1.25 m
Draft when appendages up: 2’0.6 m
Mast height from D_WL: 28’ 6”8.7 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 1653 lb750 kg
Ballast weight: 441 lb200 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron exterior ballast with steel centerboard
French customs tonnage: 3.03 Tx

Flirt's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 210 ft²19.5 m²
Downwind sail area: 334 ft²31 m²
Mainsail area: 91 ft²8.5 m²
Genoa area: 118 ft²11 m²
Solent area: 97 ft²9 m²
Jib area: 65 ft²6 m²
Stormjib area: 41 ft²3.8 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 242 ft²22.5 m²
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi 7/8
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 1
Spreaders angle: 0 °
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire

Flirt'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.: 254 ft²/T23.62 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.: 404 ft²/T37.55 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.: 131
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.: 27 %
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.: 5.67 knots