Draft/Florida

[hcurtis]

When you see this written:

Dimensions
LOA: 40 ft 9 in
Beam: 11 ft 9 in
LWL: 28 ft 10 in
Minimum Draft: 4 ft 9 in
Maximum Draft: 8 ft 9 in
Displacement: 20000 lbs
Ballast: 6500 lbs
Bridge Clearance: 53 ft 0 in

What does that mean in terms of draft? I have read that in most places in Florida, you are better off with about 5.5' draft or better yet, less. Does this yacht fit that bill, or is it going to be difficult in Florida on the West Coast? Thanks.

[offline]

My assumption, based on that data, would be the boat is equipped with a centerboard, swing-keel or some other contraption..

Sounds like 40' Hinckley... if so then it does have a centerboard

[maxingout]

Must be a centerboard or swing keel yacht.

I would go with the smaller draft number in figuring out where it can go.

[Kettlewell]

It has a centerboard. I would say max. draft for Florida is about 6 feet if you want to go anywhere, but much more comfortable is under 5 feet. I did most of the East Coast, the Okeechobee, and a lot of the Keys with 5.5 feet and it wasn't too bad. It was better with less than 3 feet on my cat. If I was looking for a boat mainly for Florida and the Bahamas, the less draft the better.

[hcurtis]

Sorry for the lack of information. I thought I provided enough. Here is the yacht.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi..._id=64991&url=

[Khagan1227]

What Kettlewell said.

If you plan on sailing up in the Nature Coast area of Florida(North of Tampa to Panama City), even 5.5' can be too much draft. I draw just under 5' and I watch my charts and depth pretty close.

I would caution you, if you plan on cruising to other locations in the world, too little draft can give you other issues you'll have deal with.

[hcurtis]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

What Kettlewell said.

If you plan on sailing up in the Nature Coast area of Florida(North of Tampa to Panama City), even 5.5' can be too much draft. I draw just under 5' and I watch my charts and depth pretty close.

I would caution you, if you plan on cruising to other locations in the world, too little draft can give you other issues you'll have deal with.

If you are able to control the draft with a range up to over 11", wouldn't that be okay for world cruising? Thanks. Just getting a feel for where I should aim.