deep draft/shallow draft

[Miran]

Hi all,
I keep reading references to deep draft on sailing boats, is there a convention that says more than X feet is deep draft and less that x feet is shallow draft.
Mine is a Sovereign 32 with draft of 6 feet, therefore I assume deep.
Please enlighten me.

[sailorboy1]

I would stay in general a 6' draft is deep. But it really depends on the boat. My boat cam in a 6'4" draft and a 4.5' draft so for my boat it is easy to know which is the deep draft.

[John_Trusty]

6 foot on a 32 foot boat sounds pretty deep, as typically modern monohulls are around 1/6. Of course, like all rules of thumb it's a gross generalization that has many exceptions. Only a way to estimate. "Deep" depends on where God has placed the average rock in your average sailing ground. Where I sail, 6 foot is fine, but really deep on the other side of our little lake.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Miran

...is there a convention that says more than X feet is deep draft and less that x feet is shallow draft.

Short answer: No.

To a large extent it depends on where you are. The waters around Florida and the Bahamas tend to be shallow. So what is considered "deep" around here is likely to be quite different than what is considered "deep," for instance, in the Pacific Northwest.

[UNCIVILIZED]

6' is generally considered to be the dividing line. Much over it & you're deeper than average. Though it depends on boat size, & as stated, to some degree where you primarily sail.

[Jim Cate]

Deep draft is where the draft is greater than the depth of water you are floating in. Shallow draft is the opposite!

Easy!

Jim