Feeling 960 Keel and centerboard

Sailboat specifications

The Feeling 960 is a 31’6” (9.6m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Harlé-Mortain (France). She was built between 1986 and 1988 by Kirié (France). The Keel and centerboard version features a centerboard inside of a short fin-keel allowing shoal draft while maintaining upwind capabilities.

The Feeling 960 has also been marketed as Elite 324 and she is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Deep draft and Shoal draft version (see all the versions compared).

Feeling 960's main features

Model: Feeling 960
Version: Keel and centerboard
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Kirié
Sailboat designer: Harlé-Mortain
Sailboat range: Feeling
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: About 90
First built hull: 1986
Last built hull: 1988
Appendages: Centerboard : pivoting centerboard in the keel
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 €

Feeling 960's main dimensions

Overall length: 32’ 7”9.93 m
Hull length: 31’ 6”9.6 m
Waterline length: 25’ 7”7.8 m
Beam (width): 10’ 7”3.22 m
Draft: 6’ 4”1.92 m
Draft when appendages up: 3’ 1”0.95 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 9061 lb4110 kg
Ballast weight: 3307 lb1500 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron exterior ballast with steel centerboard
French customs tonnage: 8.88 Tx

Feeling 960's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 614 ft²57 m²
Downwind sail area: 1009 ft²93.7 m²
Mainsail area: 234 ft²21.7 m²
Genoa area: 380 ft²35.3 m²
Solent area: 297 ft²27.6 m²
Jib area: 163 ft²15.1 m²
Stormjib area: 70 ft²6.5 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 775 ft²72 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 40’ 6”12.34 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 11’ 10”3.6 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 35’ 1”10.7 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 11’ 10”3.6 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: 0 °
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire

Feeling 960'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.: 18.0
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.: 239 ft²/T22.22 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.: 393 ft²/T36.52 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.: 245
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.: 36 %
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.: 6.78 knots