Review of First 26
Basic specs.
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Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The deck is a sandwich construction which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin. The core material in the sandwich construction is balsa.
The boat is equipped with 4 berths, a galley, 49 liters (12 US gallons, 10 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity and toilet facility.
The headroom is near average
The First 26 has been built with different keel alternatives.
Fin keel
The First 26 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 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 fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the additional surface area created by the cast iron keel in comparison to a lead keel of the same weight would be negligible for cruising yachts.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.30 - 1.40 meter (4.27 - 4.57 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Unknown keel type
This keel is also made of iron.
First 26 can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.85 - 0.95 meter (2.79 - 3.09 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The fuel tank has a capacity of 23 liters (6 US gallons, 5 imperial gallons).
The First 26 has been equipped with different engine alternatives.
Alternative 1:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta 2001 diesel engine
Alternative 2:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard engine at 9 hp (6 kW). Calculated max speed is about 4.6 knots
The transmission is a saildrive.
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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for First 26 is 2.21, 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 6.4 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 First 26 is about 131 kg/cm, alternatively 735 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 131 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 735 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.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for First 26 is 14.9 - 17.9.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for First 26 is 2.77.
The ballast ratio for First 26 is 36%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for First 26 is 179 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.
SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 17.47
What is Relative Speed Performance?
The Relative Speed Performance for First 26 is 73
Maintenance
As balsa wood is used as sandwich core material special care must be taken in relation to work that require penetration of the sandwich construction in order to to prevent water to get in contact with the balsa wood. Otherwise the balsa wood will eventually rotten and be expensive/impossible to repair.
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 22m2 (236 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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 7.8 m | (25.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 7.8 m | (25.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 19.4 m | (63.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 17.1 m | (55.9 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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.
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