Review of Helmsman 26

Helmsman 26 anno 1980.

Basic specs.

The Helmsman 26 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Håkan Södergren.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Helmsman 26 or similar boat for sale

Hull

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.

Rig

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.

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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Helmsman 26 is 2.15, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Helmsman 26 is about 150 kg/cm, alternatively 840 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 150 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 840 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Helmsman 26 is 2.86.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 73% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Helmsman 26 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.0, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.2.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 50% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Helmsman 26 is 42

The relative speed performance is 42 which means that a it is faster than 42% of all similar sailboat designs.

Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

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.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	24.8 m	(81.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	24.8 m	(81.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	24.8 m	(81.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet	8.0 m	(26.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	8.0 m	(26.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	20.0 m	(65.6 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	17.6 m	(57.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Cunningham	2.5 m	(8.2 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap	5.0 m	(16.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul	5.0 m	(16.4 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

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

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Finally

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

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.