“I believe that boat performance is as important as her appearance.” -Yoh Aoki, designer of the Zen 24<\/p>\n
Performance characteristics of a sailboat is\u00a0defined\u00a0by four properties:<\/p>\n
P1, Speed of the boat.<\/strong>\u00a0Some sailors might say,\u00a0“I’m not interested much in boat speed.” However,\u00a0properties 2, 3 and 4 depend on property 1. Naval architects try to design boats to sail as fast as possible, because they are aware of this fact. Potential boat speed is like money in your pocket. You have to give up many things if your budget is not very big. Boat speed is\u00a0a function\u00a0of 1.\u00a0Sail area\/Stability<\/a>, 2. Displacement\/Water line length and 3. hull form<\/a>. Naval architects\u00a0always try to establish a balance\u00a0between those\u00a0factors. The hull form is designed to have the least wave making hull section\u00a0as the boat moves through the water, because wave\u00a0making\u00a0resistance accounts for 95% of the drag on the boat going through the water. Also to consider\u00a0is that\u00a0if your boat is heavier you need more sail area.\u00a0This\u00a0requires heavier spars,\u00a0rigging and other gear which makes the boat heavier and starts a\u00a0vicious cycle that slows down the boat.<\/p>\n P2, Ease of steering.<\/strong> If you don’t have enough speed, it will be difficult to control and steer the boat. This is because the rudder does not work\u00a0as well\u00a0under slow speed.\u00a0The rudder will lose 19% efficiency when there is a decrease of 10% in speed. When\u00a0a boat is travelling slowly,\u00a0the helmsman will have to work harder physically and mentally.\u00a0Imagine that you are short handed or with family and the conditions are bad. You will need to be able to maintain control in these conditions. Another\u00a0reason\u00a0that you need ease of\u00a0of steering is to reduce weather helm even when the boat is heeling. When the center of lateral resistance (CLR) is balanced with the center of effort (CE) the boat’s helm is balanced. Many boats can not maintain a balanced helm when heeled but the Zen 24’s hull form creates hydrodynamic lift which can offset weather helm<\/a>.<\/p>\n P3, Degree of comfort.<\/strong> Comfort under way<\/a> is another important property for boats and her skippers.\u00a0This property goes hand in hand with the previous two. Comfort is\u00a0partly a function of\u00a0ease of steering and\u00a0boat motion. If the boat has a gentle motion, the crew can steer without too much effort. Since the crew is not struggling to steer the boat, they can enjoy the ride and cruise in comfort.<\/p>\n P4, Seaworthiness.<\/strong>\u00a0Is\u00a0a typical traditional boat that has a\u00a0heavy displacement\u00a0and a\u00a0wine glass hull section more seaworthy than a modern light weight fiber glass boat? Not necessarily. The Volvo Ocean racing boats, as well as traditional designed boats\u00a0have been sailing around the world and in places as treacherous as Cape Horn. Racing boats sometimes lose spars, keels or are capsized.\u00a0These problems\u00a0are usually because of engineering factors. Traditional boats also encounter the same problems. “Tzu-Han” a 50 foot traditional design boat even lost her deck after recovering from capsize in the Southern Ocean. Traditional design boats often have to heave to under heavy condtions, because they will be out of control\u00a0due to lack of speed and thereby also lacking steering control. They also get submerged in big waves\u00a0because of their\u00a0limited reserve buoyancy. The Volvo Ocean race boats also might\u00a0lack properties 2 and 3 but their\u00a0seaworthiness\u00a0is\u00a0compensated with well trained crewmembers. Summary\u00a0of the\u00a0characteristics of boat types on the ocean<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe Zen 24 has the\u00a0potential\u00a0to sail under\u00a0the Force 10 conditions<\/a> without much stress because she has been designed with all four properties in mind.<\/p>\n