b 25 sailboat review

• Yachting Monthly
• Digital edition

• September 24, 2009

B-25 - large-volume 25ft trailer sailer

Product Overview

Price as reviewed:.

This Australian design is a large-volume 25ft trailer sailer. A couple of hundred were built down under but only 50 or so here by Moore’s of Wroxham from 1980. Later a much-improved version was built by Brue Yachts and called the Brue Arrow. For trailing, the B-25 had a deep, fine keel with a lead bulb and hydraulic lifting, a narrow hull and buoyant stern sections. However, she was too big and unwieldy for regular trailing. The interior has five berths in an open-plan layout but the quateberth is for children only. The galley is effective but the chart table is rudimentar. She is easy to sail but she is not a heavy weather boat. Brue Arrows have a Collins Tandern keel and twin rudders which greatly improves performance in all conditions.

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B-25: The First Sportboat

• By Tony Bessinger
• Updated: August 14, 2007

After winning a string of races with the first boat, Beiley put the design in production in 1988. Widely regarded as the first sport boat, the B-25 uses marine plywood for bulkheads and ring frames, and Kevlar with epoxy over a PVC foam core for the hull, all of which means a light, stiff hull. The deck is cored with end-grain balsa, so beware of soft spots. The lifting keel allows for easy launching and retrieval. Martin 242 owners have found that outboards between 3.3 and 4 horsepower mounted on a bracket on the boat’s closed transom work well.The interior of the B-25 is simple, with a V-berth forward, and settees to port and starboard in the main cabin. The designer’s goal for the interior was to make it as light as possible, and he succeeded. The cabin sole is a teak and holly veneer over Verticell honeycomb; the weight of the components that make up the interior is around 50 pounds. Beiley, in an interview posted on his company’s website, www.bravurayachts.com, explains what he’d do different if he designed the B-25 today, it serves as a guide for those interested in buying a used B-25 and turbo-charging it for PHRF racing. “I would give it a bit more sail area, masthead kites and a bow pole,” says Beiley. The transom-hung rudder was re-designed by Beiley in 1999, and he says that almost every buyer of a used B-25 orders one of the new deeper, thinner, lighter rudders, which are made of a carbon/epoxy composite because they’re “so much better.”The B-25 has done well in mixed fleet racing around its home territories on the West Coast, but a few have shown up at Key West Race Week over the years and done well in PHRF. We saw prices from $15,000 to $25,000 for B-25s located in New Hampshire and New Jersey, but the majority are found on the West Coast.B-25LOA 25′ LWL 21′ 4″Beam 8’3″DSPL 2,000 lbs.Draft 5′ PHRF 132-138 SA/D 27.5 Years built 1988-present Designer Leif Beiley www.bravurayachts.com

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• Sailboat Guide

Binks B25 is a 25 ′ 7 ″ / 7.8 m monohull sailboat designed by David Binks and built by Binks Yacht Contructions starting in 1979.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

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• By Andrew Burton
• Updated: January 30, 2007

The Harbor 25 is a delight to sail. After I climbed aboard, this lively sloop began doing laps around much bigger boats as they lumbered in light air around the bay. The cockpit is 8 feet long, deep, roomy, and has high coamings. The helmsman can choose to look over the cabin house or duck behind it when spray blows back. All excess line stows in built-in pockets in the coamings and cabin bulkhead, eliminating the need for multiple sheet bags.

Below, the cabin is attractive but offers only sitting headroom. There’s a good-sized V-berth forward of a usable head that’s thoughtfully positioned under the forehatch, which is designed to accommodate a solar shower for owners who will weekend in their Harbor 25s. The cored-fiberglass bulkheads between the cabins feel rock solid. They’re matte-white and trimmed with varnished mahogany, which gives the interior a pleasing look.

The main cabin is a nice social area, with four opening ports and room for a simple galley. Two single quarter berths take up the area under the cockpit seats and are separated by a small Honda outboard gas powerhead that sits on a saildrive and turns a two-bladed Flex-O-Fold propeller.

This little boat reminds me of the ones I loved to cruise aboard for weeks at a time in the Gulf and San Juan islands of the Pacific Northwest when I was young. No doubt it will appeal as much to others who don’t need to bring all the comforts of home with them when they sail.

Harbor 25 Specs

LOA: 25′ 9″ LWL: 21′ 6″ Beam: 8′ 1″ Draft: 5′ 0″ Sail Area: 356 sq. ft. Displacement: 3,900 lb. Water: 13 gal. Fuel: 11 gal. Engine: 12.5-hp. Honda saildrive Designer: Stephen Schock Price: $81,000 W.D. Schock Corp., (951) 277-3377, www.wdschock.com

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• Sailboat Reviews

Remarkably roomy for such a small boat, the 25 is well finishedand offers enough performance for racing.

Just a few years ago, the prospective buyer of a 25′ sailboat knew that some serious compromises awaited him. His 25-footer would probably have little more than sitting headroom, might have four shelves that could reasonably be called berths, and probably had a head stowed under the forward berth. The galley? With luck, a two-burner alcohol stove, maybe a sink, and a water tank holding ten gallons.

Auxiliary power? Usually a 6 hp outboard hanging off the stern or in a well in the lazarette.

With today’s economy, more and more people who once might have considered a 30-footer are downscaling their size expectations to something more realistic, perhaps a 25- or 27-footer. While they may downgrade their expectations in terms of the length of their boats, they have not downgraded their expectations in terms of the size boat they want. This is not the contradiction it may seem. The fact is that there are a number of boats less than 27′ in overall length that offer room and features akin to those offered in older 30′ boats.

For better or worse, economic reality has forced many of us to downsize our boat expectations in much the way we downsized our automobile expectations.

Then came a new generation of small cruising auxiliaries. The modern 25′ “family” sailboat has 6′ headroom, berths for a family of five—if privacy isn’t a high priority—enclosed head, and perhaps an inboard diesel engine. A regular miniature yacht.

The Ericson 25+ is a good example. The proof of the popularity of this concept shows in the numbers. Over 660 units were built in the first three years after the Ericson 25+ was introduced in late 1978.

Designer Bruce King had a long and successful relationship with Ericson Yachts, starting with the Ericson 23, 30, 32, and 41 of the late 1960s. He has not been exclusively an Ericson “house” designer—witness the magnificent Herreshoff-inspired 90′ ketch Whitehawk to his design—but the vast majority of Ericson boats came from his board.

Bruce King and Ericson found a formula not unlike that of Bill Shaw and Pearson: build a wide range of boats of similar type in two to three foot increments, develop customer loyalty, and watch the customers move up through the ranks. Keep the really popular models, such as the Pearson 35 or the Ericson 35, and bring out other models every few years to catch the latest trend. That formula worked whether you were on the East Coast or the West, and like Pearson, Ericson had the formula down pat.

With the exception of a few forays into the cruising market with the clipper-bowed Cruising 31 and the Cruising 38 (later to be called Independence), the Ericson formula produced a well finished cruiserracer with good sailing characteristics. The Ericson 25+ was part of this successful formula.

Construction

The hull of the Ericson 25+ is a solid hand layup. A molded fiberglass body pan is glassed to the inside of the hull, functioning as the base for much of the interior furniture and adding a certain amount of rigidity to the hull. The deck, cockpit, and cabin trunk molding is balsa cored, with plywood replacing the balsa in high stress areas such as under the deck-stepped mast and where deck hardware is mounted.

Exterior glasswork is of good quality, with little roving printthrough, Gelcoat work is good.

The hull-to-deck joint depends on a secondary chemical bond. Both the hull and deck have an external molded flange. Glass-reinforced polyester resin is used as a bedding compound between these flanges. The inside of this joint is then lapped with four layers of fiberglass mat and cloth. This joint is covered on the outside by a plastic extrusion with a soft plastic insert which functions as a rub rail. We prefer a mechanically fastened hull-to-deck joint, because the strength of secondary chemical bonds is very difficult to evaluate.

The deck of the 25+ has a remarkably solid feel thanks to its cored construction. Neither the deck, cockpit, nor cabin top had any of the sponginess frequently associated with small boats.

Deck hardware of the 25+ is well mounted. Stanchions, pulpits, cleats, and winches have adequate aluminum bearing plates. The tiller head is a substantial chrome-plated bronze casting, The transom is plywood cored, greatly adding to its rigidity.

The mast of the 25+ is a black, deck-stepped extrusion. The stainless steel mast step looks surprisingly fragile. Because the mast is designed to be owner-stepped if desired, the forward lower half of the base of the mast is cut away to allow the mast to pivot forward for lowering. We doubt if there are many owners who will step their own masts. The design of the mast step to facilitate raising and lowering has greatly reduced the bearing surface of the heel of the mast.

In contrast to the mast step, the shroud chainplates are of surprisingly heavy construction. The 25+ utilizes Navtec chainplates, shroud terminals, and turnbuckles. Chainplates are strongly tied to the hull.

All through hull fittings below the waterline have Zytel valves, a reinforced plastic. Most have double-clamped hoses, but the icebox drain hose has a single clamp. Although modern plastics are strong, we suggest that you carefully inventory through hull fittings, as they are a major culprit in many sinkings of otherwise undamaged boats. Plastic valves may be immune to electrolysis, but they cannot be forgotten any more than bronze seacocks can be ignored.

Handling Under Sail

Despite the chubbiness of the 25+, owners report that she is a fast boat under sail. There are a number of features that contribute to this speed, She has minimum wetted surface, despite a displacement that is average for her overall length, though fairly light for a waterline length of almost 22′.

The Ericson 25+, 28+, and 30+ all feature Bruce King’s trademark, the “delta” fin keel. King states that this keel form has very low induced drag, and the 25’s performance reinforces his belief. The optional shoal draft keel reduces draft a foot, reduces lateral plane, and no doubt reduces windward ability, Unless you are bound and determined to have a boat drawing under four feet, by all means get the deeper draft version.

The rig of the 25+ is a high aspect ratio 7/8 sloop rig. The mainsail hoist of 31.5′ is unusual for a 25′ boat. In light air, tall rigs are usually faster, and we would expect the boat’s best point of sail to be upwind in light air. Since a great deal of the sailing in the world seems to be upwind in light air, this approach to the rig is a rational one.

With the addition of a backstay adjuster—easy because of the split backstay—it is possible to induce a reasonable amount of mast bend to control sail shape. A full width mainsheet traveler mounted on the cockpit bridgedeck greatly enhances mainsail control.

Shroud chainplates are set well inboard, allowing narrow headsail sheeting angles. The genoa track is also located inboard, almost against the cabin side.

There is no main boom topping lift, We think this is pretty indefensible on a cruising boat, and despite the additional windage, a topping lift is greatly to be desired on a racing boat. Without a topping lift, reefing becomes a real exercise in agility. Dropping the mainsail is greatly complicated, especially when cruising shorthanded. Should the main halyard break when sailing close hauled, the main boom could brain anyone sitting on the leeward side of the cockpit.

Two-speed Barient headsail sheet winches were standard in later boats. There is room on the cockpit coamings both for the addition of secondary winches for spinnaker handling and the replacement of the standard winches with larger ones. A single halyard winch is mounted on the mast, There is no main halyard winch. We would choose the optional aftleading halyards to facilitate shorthanded cruising.

The 25+ should sail with almost any other production cruiser-racer of her size. Her wide beam and deep draft should offset the additional heeling moment of the tall rig. Like all wide modern boats she should be sailed on her feet. Get the crew weight out on the weather rail in a breeze, and she should carry sail well.

Handling Under Power

There were probably more power options for the 25+ than any similar-sized boat on the market. They included: outboard power, OMC gas saildrive, Volvo diesel saildrive, and Yanmar diesel inboard.

The 25+ is small enough to be driven fairly well by a 10-hp outboard. There was about a $3,500 difference in equipping the boat with an outboard engine versus the diesel inboard. The choice depended largely on how the boat was to be used. Few boats of this size are used for long-distance cruising. For daysailing and racing, an outboard engine is more than adequate.

If extended coastal cruising is to be the boat’s primary activity, then one of the inboard options should be considered. Frankly, we have little love for saildrive installations. If you really want an inboard engine, the Yanmar single cylinder inboard diesel is the real choice. No matter which engine is in the boat, it is equipped with a 20-gallon aluminum fuel tank.

With a one-cylinder diesel engine, given a fourknot cruising speed and fuel consumption of about 1/4 gallon per hour, the range under power is almost 350 miles—a truly astounding range for a 25′ boat, That’s probably more range under power than the average boat is likely to need for an entire season.

Deck Layout

With shroud chainplates set well inboard, and a reasonably narrow cabin trunk, working on the deck of the 25+ is fairly easy. There is adequate room between the shrouds and the lifelines to walk outboard of the shrouds with ease.

There is a small foredeck anchor well, adequate for the stowage of a single Danforth and rode. There are no bow chocks, but there are two cleats located forward at the outboard edge of the deck.

Molded-in nonskid of a color contrasting to the primary deck color was standard on the Ericson. This relieves eyestrain in bright sunlight and reduces the basically austere external appearance of the boat.

The cockpit of the 25+ is comfortable. Coamings are angled outward rather than being vertical, allowing a more natural sitting posture. As in most tiller-steered boats, the sweep of the tiller occupies a large percentage of the cockpit volume. In port, the tiller swings up and out of the way, providing un-crowded seating for up to six adults.

A single cockpit scupper 1—1/ 2″ in diameter is recessed in a well at the back of the cockpit. The well allows water to drain on either tack. A stainless steel strainer over the scupper reduces its effective area by over 50%. Since the drain size is large enough to pass on through almost any debris that is likely to be found in the cockpit, we would remove the strainer for sailing. A single 1-1/2″ diameter scupper has more cross sectional area than two 1″ drains, and is less likely to clog.

There are two cockpit lockers. The starboard cockpit locker is a shallow pan suitable for storing small items such as winch handles and sail ties. At its after corner is a deeper bin which could make a handy icebox for cold drinks. The port locker is a large, deep affair which unfortunately suffers from the common failing of not being adequately separated from the under-cockpit area, A snap-in Dacron bag would convert this locker to reasonable sail stowage.

The companionway uses thick, well-made solid teak dropboards with proper step joints to prevent spray from working below, Unfortunately, the very strong taper to the companionway slides allows them to be removed by lifting less than an inch. For sailing in rough water, a positive means of securing these slides—a sliding bolt, for example—must be installed.

It is gratifying to see a real bridgedeck in a boat this size. Except for the strong taper to the companionway sides, this is one of the best designed cockpits we have seen in a small boat.

The amount of interior volume in the 25+ is truly remarkable. The boat easily has the headroom and elbow room of most older 30-footers.

The forepeak contains the usual V-berth with a filler to form a nominal double. We truly mean nominal. Two normal-sized people simply do not fit in the forward berth of the Ericson 25+. Consider it a large single instead, or a double for two children. Water and holding tanks occupy the space under the berth.

The 25+ has a genuine enclosed, standup head, an almost unheard of luxury in a boat this size. The head has an opening port for ventilation. There are two small lockers in the head, but both are largely occupied by plumbing hoses.

Opposite the head is a small hanging locker. This locker is fully lined with teak plywood, a nice finishing touch.

It is in the main cabin that the 25+ really shines. Headroom is an honest 6′. Two comfortable settee berths seat 6 in comfort, A fold-down drop-leaf table is big enough to serve 4, and is one of the sturdier tables of this type that we have seen.

The main cabin of the 25+ is well finished with a combination of off-white fiberglass and teak. This is a very successful decorating job, without so much teak as to turn the interior into a cave but with enough to give a well finished appearance. A ceiling of teak strips became standard later on in the production run, and the cabin trunk sides are veneered in teak. A teak and holly cabin sole came standard, with two access hatches to the bilge.

There is a real bilge, unusual in a boat of this size. The strainer for the cockpit-mounted Whale Gusher pump is accessible through a cabin sole hatch.

Under the settee on each side of the cabin there are storage bins. These make use of molded polyethylene drop-in liners, a most practical solution which recognizes the reality that under-seat storage is rarely, if ever, completely dry. An optional extension to the starboard settee converts it to a double berth, but at the expense of easy access to the storage bins underneath.

The galley is surprisingly complete for a 25′ boat. There is a well-insulated icebox of five cubic foot capacity. The insulation is exposed in the port cockpit locker, and will be vulnerable to damage from items stowed there. It could easily be sealed off with either plywood or fiberglass to protect it. The icebox lid is an uninsulated molding advertised as a removable serving tray. If it is used as a serving tray, then the icebox is uncovered, allowing the ice to melt. Whoever thought up that bright idea should go back to the drawing board or look around for some common sense.

For some reason, icebox lids are one of the poorest design features of most sailboats, It’s quite remarkable on boats with otherwise thoughtful design and construction to see poor icebox design. Perhaps there is collusion between the Union of Icebox Designers and the Association of Manufacturers of Ice to maximize the consumption of ice aboard sailboats.

There are storage lockers both above and below the icebox-stove counter. The stove is a recessed Kenyon two-burner alcohol unit with a cutting block cover, These stoves have the fuel fill located between the two burners, and we feel they are a poor choice for use aboard a boat. The burners must be absolutely cool before the fuel tank is filled to eliminate the possibility of explosion or fire.

It is not necessary to step on the galley counter when coming down the companionway. This is a real plus. Footprints on the counters have never appealed to us.

A human-sized quarterberth is a welcome feature. With adequate headroom over, it eliminates the coffinlike aura of so many small-boat quarterberths, and is without a doubt the roomiest, most comfortable berth on the boat.

With an outboard engine, the room under the cockpit that would normally house an inboard is given over to storage. The tiny one-cylinder Yanmar diesel would easily shoehorn into the same space.

Without a doubt, the interior of the Ericson 25+ is a real accomplishment, It is well finished, generally well designed, and remarkably roomy for a boat of this overall length. There is some miniaturization of components, such as the galley sink, head sink, and hanging locker. Nonetheless, she’s a big little boat, and would be truly comfortable for extended coastal cruising for a couple. That is something that can rarely be said for a 25′ boat.

Conclusions

Ericson came very close to achieving their goals in the 25+. She is about as much boat as can be crammed into this overall length.

An interesting option is an E-Z Loader trailer. With a beam of over 9′ and a weight of 5,000 pounds, the 25+ is no trailer sailer. It takes a large, powerful car or truck to tow a boat of this size, and the beam could present legal problems in some states. The trailer would be most useful for taking the boat home for winter storage, rather than frequent over-the-road transport.

Workmanship and finish detail are generally of good stock boat quality. Exposed joiner work is good. Fillet bonding varies from good to only fair, with glasswork generally good.

The Ericson 25+ is a good small cruiser for a young family, and offers enough sailing performance to be a reasonable choice for club racing.

Unlike many small cruiser-racers which concentrate on interior volume and forsake sailing ability, the 25+ really will sail. This means that the new sailor will not quickly outgrow her as he or she learns what makes a boat go fast. With good hardware such as Barient and Navtec and a fairly high degree of finish detail, it is easy to see why the boat fetches the prices it does.

For those used to less-expensive 25-footers, the cost will be a shock. It helps a little to think of her as a 28-footer with the stern cut off.

With an inboard diesel, a good light air rig, and lots of interior volume, she’s a good little cruising boat for a couple. A maximum boat for minimum length, she’s a modern solution to skyrocketing costs of sailing. At maximum price for her length when new, she’s not an example of “more for less,” but then, there’s no free lunch in the sailboat market. That’s for sure.

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Merit 25 - is it worth the haul?

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http://www.sailingtexas.com/smerit25j.html This is boat I'm looking at and I was wondering if its really worth the gas money and time to haul back to northern VA. Its been pretty hard to find one around here for this ones asking price. Looks to be in nice shape. If the owner met me 1/2 way would that help the deal? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.  

Of course, you might consider sailing her actually, and then a survey... if you agree on the price, then the half way meeting makes sense...  

Come to Maryland There's a good looking Merit 25 for sale at my marina. I don't know the price but can send you the phone number for the owner so that you can talk to him directly. They are terrific boats, and nice looking too. It's on the hard at Oak Harbor Marina, Pasadena, MD (north of Annapolis.)  

SailorMitch said: There's a good looking Merit 25 for sale at my marina. I don't know the price but can send you the phone number for the owner so that you can talk to him directly. They are terrific boats, and nice looking too. It's on the hard at Oak Harbor Marina, Pasadena, MD (north of Annapolis.) Click to expand...

Pheonomenal Boat!  

here in los angeles, my sailing school/club owns a number of merit 25's, and i've seen them at other sailing schools i've visited. i do not know why it's a popular school boat, but i'm sure it's not a coincidence. i am going to try one next week. it's a sharp-looking boat; but for now, that's all i know about them.  

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Review of Binks B25

Basic specs..

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

The boat equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

The Binks B25 is equipped with a swing keel. A swing keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can sail close to the beach as the draft is just 0.25 - 0.35 meter (0.82 - 1.12 ft) dependent of the load. See immersion rate below.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Binks B25 is 2.38, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.4 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Binks B25 is about 116 kg/cm, alternatively 654 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 116 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 654 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio) Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind: - Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15 - Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20 - Racers have ratios above 20 - High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24 Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 27.34

Maintenance

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 21m 2 (226 ft 2 ). Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Binks B25 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us . Criticism helps us to improve.

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Lancer 25 a good choice over others of its class?

• Thread starter Southcoasting
• Start date Nov 1, 2011
• Brand-Specific Forums

Southcoasting

I have seen one local to me for cheap but unsure of the boat itself...I will probably get skewed responses since I am asking Lancer owners afterall but I like the lines of it and it has a full keel which I think it makes it more stable than other of its size...The other popular options in 25 being the O'Day and the Catalina... Been also considering a Tartan 27 local to me that needs work to it's deck & rails (wood is all beat up on rails)but is pretty much ready to sail as well (engine, sails, electrical) I like the modern looks of it although it is an older 70's boat...I know there is one guy on here Don that has said plenty about his and loves it but just wondering what you thought as a first boat for my wife and I (31 & 28). We want to have occasional guests as well...Obviously, we know it won't fit 10 as that is not very smart to try anyways... Just looking for something good to start with that will be manageable (trailerable)  

I have just aquired a lancer 28, its just as bad as any other boat, unless you have money to spend on a pacific sea craft, a southern cross, or a halberg rassy. You get what you pay for, the lancer i have, has a keel i dont like, which is a fiberglass keel, filled with ballast, it has no reinforcing under any of the deck fittings, the forward hatch in the coach roof is a joke, it is held closed with one little hook, the companion way is way too big, (but some people like that) their is berths for what is claimed seven people, but their is no way, two adults can sleep in the forward v berth, one small adult would be all, with the table down, it has five six foot berths, which is way too much for a boat that size, and the result is, a lot of lost storage space. No nav station, no chart table, more a sort of floating trailer, my wife likes it though, but she isnt planning on any sailing, she is planning to stay at a marina, and invite friends down, so i guess it suits her. A lot of the components, are very good, well made, but just slapped on. The freshwater tank is only fifteen gallons, smallest of any boat i have ever owned. the hull and deck seem quite solid, though i have heard other people say this is not the case. I have stripped mine, taken the toe rails off, i am going to glass the hull deck joint, (would recomend that on just about any production boat) I am going to re bed all the fittings, replace the bulkheads. Their are no proper chain plates for the stayes, just a plate under the deck, that holds another plate that passes through the deck, onto which the stays are secured, i reckon if i sailed it hard enough, i could break that plate through the deck and lose the rig. I am replacing the hull deck self tapping screws with bolts, which with that and glassing the hull deck joint, and re bedding the deck fittings and toe rails, should get rid of all the leaks, the pulling of the deck by the mast transfering weight through the stays, loosens the hull deck seal, and you get water in. I swapped a porsch i had for mine, i am quite happy with it, as i knew what i was getting when i got it, the previous owner had spent money on her, but he didnt do work, I dont have to spend a lot of money, i just have to do work, he put a new rig on her, new sails, new and very expensive covers on all the cushions, new foam, new stove, new toilet,new liner in the the cabin, but he didnt bother stopping the rot, so the nice boat he had is now stripped. Will take me to about april to finish her, upgrade the electrical, probably cost 400, (solar panel double the batteries etc) glassing the hull deck and bedding in all deck fittings, probably, 200, bulheads, could be about 400, depending on whether i use marine ply or exterior. re painting the hull after the crap job he did, maybe 200, but i will spray that myself. I willl use the old marine ply from the bulkheads to re-enforce the fittings, probably use several gallons of fiberglass resin, and forty dollars a gallon, even the original hatch covers, under the cushions, handnt been seriously protected from moisture, i took those out, sanded them,and varnished them, maybe half hours work per hatch cover, the ones i have to replace due to rot, maybe an hour per hatch cover. I am happy with the boat, lot of good sturdy components, but looks like they gave all these components to one man, and said "build it as fast as you can" Like i say, only thing i dont like is the keel, and that is because, i dont understand it.  

Hello Southcoasting, I acquired a trailerable 1976 Lancer 25 in June. I am new to sailing having learned to sail last summer in Florida. I have really enjoyed reburbishing my Lancer and learning to sail her. I am unable to compare her with other boats of comparable size, however, I love my Lancer. Last weekend, on a local lake we overtook a Catalina 25! While the Catalina, due to her deeper draft, was able to point a little higher on a close hauled, we were still faster. I agree with the previous posting that the chainplates are a weak point. I have plans to strenghten mine next spring. Rudder could be a little larger to improve handling when slow. Launching and recovering are easy with this boat. My son and I are able to step the mast and be ready to launch in less than 30 minutes. Overall, I'm very happy with my Lancer 25, probably because my standards are so low, but I don't know the difference! Ignorance is bliss, I guess.  

I think I'm that "Don" so I won't go on too much but I'll answer a couple of observations and add a concern or two. 1) Weak chain plates. The boats are 35 years old and have yet to pull through in all sorts of weather. Don't worry about it. Inspect your rigging though. 2) One little hook to hold my forward hatch down . . . has proven MORE than enough to do the job. 3) Your Lancer WILL sleep 5. I know. It's close quarters but everybody will be gently rocked to sleep while reclined on a cushion. 4) Your Lancer may leak some. Mine does and it drives my lovely bride nuts. This spring I'll rebed my rails and hardware and all will be fine. 5) She's as fast as any other boat in her class. I've been to 6 1/2 knots, hull speed. 6) She doesn't point as well as deeper keel boats, but she gets closer to the beach and on to the trailer just fine. 7) I hope you aren't a big guy because the head needs quite a bit of docking finesse to complete the paper work. 8) She is a great starter boat and if we had picked another, more ungainly boat, our sailing days would have ended in divorce, shortly after registering the trailer. 9) If you'll trailer her often, install a Johnson lever in the stay that you detach to step. $35 well spent. 10) Get out there and sail like crazy. Keep in mind that the cockpit is a perfect place for passion; either for sailing or . . . . a little thing that I call "Merlot time". Don Maine  

Good evening Southcoasting. Good Old Boat reviewed the original Lancer 25 in their January/February 2011 edition and I posted a review that included the Mark IV & Mark V, which can be found at this following link. http://forums.lancer.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=777787&highlight=steve22116 One of the features I most enjoy with the Lancer is having "standing" head room in a 25' boat. Yes, the keel is wider that required but I do like being able to stand up while dressing. Also, I've posted many of my completed tasks on this forum and you can search for author steve22116 to get additional ideas. Steve  

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