Review of Arcona 40 DS

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

The boat is equipped with 4 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 400 liters (105 US gallons, 87 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity, toilet facility and 160 liters (42 US gallons, 35 imperial gallons) waste water capacity.

The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany. Mahogany belongs to the hardwood species, known for being water-repellent and resistant to decay. It has an attractive wood grain and holds wood polish and varnish well.

The Arcona 40 DS is built with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Fin keel with bulb

The Arcona 40 DS is built with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel. The advantage of the bulb is that it lowers the center of gravity which resists heeling and reduces the draft.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.95 - 2.05 meter (6.40 - 6.70 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 300 liters (79 US gallons, 65 imperial gallons).

Arcona 40 DS may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD22L diesel engine at 48 hp (35 kW).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Arcona 40 DS is 1.87, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Arcona 40 DS holds a CE certification:

The boat is by European Union certified as Class A. OCEAN:

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Arcona 40 DS is about 305 kg/cm, alternatively 1707 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 305 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1707 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Arcona 40 DS is 3.15.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 66% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Arcona 40 DS is 36%.

This ballast ratio is higher than 31% of all similar sailboat designs. Since the ballast ratio and the righting moment (i.e. better ability to resist heeling) is strongly correlated, a ballast ratio just below average indicates an ability to resist heeling below average.

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 44m² (473 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

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 Arcona 40 DS 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.

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