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Review of Sun Light 30


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Sun Light 30 is a sailboat designed by the French maritime architect Daniel Andrieu. The Sun Light 30 is built by the French yard Jeanneau.

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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 Sun Light 30 is equipped 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.


Keel

The Sun Light 30 has been built with different keel alternatives.

CentreBoard

One option is a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

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.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.10 - 1.20 meter (3.61 - 3.91 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Deep keel

Another option is a deep keel. A deep keel provide a better healing moment than a shallow keel.

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 enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.78 - 1.88 meter (5.84 - 6.14 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Shallow keel

Another option is a shallow keel. A shallow keel allow 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.

Sun Light 30 can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.45 - 1.55 meter (4.76 - 5.06 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Shallow keel

Another option is a shallow keel. A shallow keel allow to sail both coastal and inland waters.

This keel is also made of iron.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.45 - 1.55 meter (4.76 - 5.06 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Yanmar 2GM20 diesel engine


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.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.7 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.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Sun Light 30 is about 166 kg/cm, alternatively 933 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 166 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 933 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 Sun Light 30 is 2.76.

Slim Wide 82% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 82% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Sun Light 30 is 42%.

Low High 58% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 34% 0 50 100
The Sun Light 30 has more rig than 34% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly underrigged.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 30m2 (322 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.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

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
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 29.2 m(95.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard29.2 m(95.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard29.2 m(95.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 8.9 m(29.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.9 m(29.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 22.2 m(73.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet19.6 m(64.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham3.2 m(10.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap6.4 m(21.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.4 m(21.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)

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.

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



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Sun Light 30 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