HR draft

[dnp]

I a newbe to purchasing a sailing yacht as i'm retired now with time to enjoy sailing full time. Looking at a Hallberg-Rassy 40 ft. with a 5'6" draft. Is this draft going to work for long blue water cruising? Thanks for any information out there.

[AndytheSailor]

Hi DNP,
I guess the answer is if it's a Hallberg Rassey then she will do the job in spades and reward you with some great sailing. The draft is not going to be a problem. water sailing">Blue water sailing is what they were designed to do.

All the best

Andy

[deluxe68]

Originally Posted by dnp

I a newbe to purchasing a sailing yacht as i'm retired now with time to enjoy sailing full time. Looking at a Hallberg-Rassy 40 ft. with a 5'6" draft. Is this draft going to work for long blue water cruising? Thanks for any information out there.

What year is the boat you are looking at? I have heard that the newer models sail a little better than the older models. Not sure if they changed the shape of the keel. I lone the engine access on their boats although not a fan of deck stepped masts and in-mast furling.

[Seagullf111a]

What Andy said. Lovely boat. Al

[sailorboy1]

What does draft have to do with "blue water sailing" really? ...................... none

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by dnp

I a newbe to purchasing a sailing yacht as i'm retired now with time to enjoy sailing full time. Looking at a Hallberg-Rassy 40 ft. with a 5'6" draft. Is this draft going to work for long blue water cruising? Thanks for any information out there.

I have HR 40 #68. The shoal draft version is 5'8" with the design cruising load. The standard keel is 6'7".

I've sailed a lot of HRs beyond my own (37s, 39s, 40s, 43s, 48s, 53s, and 54s). I've had a lot of correspondence with the factory (I bought mine new and took factory delivery, sailing across the Atlantic in 2006) and with Frers. The upshot is that the polars are so close between shoal and standard draft that you can't see the difference. The righting arm curves are darn close also. Very slightly more wetted surface on the shoal draft. Upshot - no discernible difference in the real world.

The 40 original layout is, in my opinion, one of the best boats around for long-term cruising. The newer classic layout is fine unless you spend a lot of time passagemaking. They are the same hulls from Frers.

I love my boat. I definitely made a good choice.