Review of Hydra 16

Basic specs.

The Hydra 16 also known as Hydra is a small catamaran designed by the maritime architect Mike West in the early seventies. A few thousand boats have been built.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Rig

The Hydra 16 is built 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 gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel

CentreBoard

The Hydra 16 is built with a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

The boat can sail close to the beach as the draft is just 0.15 - 0.25 meter (0.49 - 0.79 ft) dependent of the load.

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.

Sorry, we have no sailing characteristics available for this boat.

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 Hydra 16 is 2.20.

Compared with other similar sail catamarans it is slimmer than 66% of all other designs.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Hydra 16 is 31 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

50% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. This boat has a precise average ratio between displacement and length!

Maintenance

Keel Inspection

Keels with moving parts need to be inspected and maintained on a regular basis according to advice given in owner's manual. Manufacturers usually advise which maintenance work can be done by the owner and which work should be carried out by a suitably experienced boatyard.

Boat owner's ideas

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

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Hydra 16 (West) 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.

References

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