Review of Finn 26

Both the hull and the deck 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 interior is like most other boats made of teak.
The boat is equipped with 5 berths, a galley and toilet facility.
Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.

Finn 26 has more than one rig.

One option is 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.

Another option is 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.

The Finn 26 is equipped with a finn keel. The finn keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a finn type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts. The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.40 - 1.50 meter (4.59 - 4.89 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard engine.
The transmission is a saildrive.
The fuel tank which is made of stainless steel has a capacity of 50 liters (13 US gallons, 10 imperial gallons).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Finn 26 is 2.11, 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 6.0 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 Finn 26 is about 116 kg/cm, alternatively 651 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 116 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 651 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Finn 26 is 16.7 - 19.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Finn 26 is 2.88.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 69% 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 Finn 26 is 39%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Finn 26 is 263 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

38% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Finn 26 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.2, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 38% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

The Finn 26 has more rig than 73% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.

What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for Finn 26 is 50

The relative speed performance is 50 which means that a it is faster than 50% of all similar sailboat designs.

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 20m² (215 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.

Dimensions of sail for masthead 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.

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