SUNBEAM 32.1: AS FAST AS IT LOOKS?

If this was a car this yacht would look like a Lamborghini, or something ultra-modern, sportive, and fast. Does the Sunbeam 32.1 have only the looks or has it what it takes to be as fast on the sea as a Lambo on the roads? Meaning a big engine and the means to control all that power.

On a sailboat, the engines are the sails and the stability that allows resisting the heeling forces. The bigger the stability, also called stiffness (for the smaller heel angles, the ones that are used for sailing) the bigger the sails the boat will be able to carry and more power will be available.

The engine is not the only relevant part, the other is the proportion between drag and power and if we were talking about cars, drag would correspond mostly to the weight and aerodynamic performance, on boats it is a bit more complex because water is much denser than air.

Sunbeam 32.1

Regarding hydrodynamics, not only the wetted area is important (related to weight) as other factors assume bigger importance, factors that have to do with boat underwater shape while heeling, hull form coefficients and wave drag, not to mention windage.

But let's keep it simple and basic: regarding hull form the Sunbeam 32.1 is sleek, with fine entries and a relatively narrow hull. It looks the hull of a fast boat, but if we look at the rocker and at the shape of the underwater hull, we will see that they are very different from the ones of sailing "Ferraris", or "Porsches", and the hull does not look like anymore to the hull of a very fast boat.

Comparing it with the hulls of Dehler 30OD and JPK 10.30 the differences are evident, and the Sunbeam 32.l underwater body looks pregnant and with a bigger freeboard, that is very well disguised by two chines. Evidently, the much bigger wetted surface on the Sunbeam has to do with a very different displacement, 4150kg for the Sunbeam, 2800kg for the Dehler and 3776kg for the JPK.

On top Dehler 30OD then JPK 1030

The Sunbeam, with 29ft length, is the smallest, the Dehler has 30ft and the JPK 33ft. The Dehler has 3.28m beam, the JPK 3.24m and the Sunbeam is the narrowest, with 2.98m. That means that for having the same power it has to compensate with extra ballast, but it is the opposite, the Sunbeam has not only less draft, on a similar T keel (1,80m to 2.2m and 2.0m) as is the one with the smaller B/D, 30.1% for 33.6% on the Dehler and 39.7% on the JPK. 

Oceanis 30.1

So, the Sunbeam has a bigger wetted surface, less hull form stability, less RM coming from the keel and from the Lamborghini shape, if compared to a "Ferrari" and a "Porsche".....it remains only the shape, not the substance. 

If we continue and extend this comparison to the sail area, sail control and running rigging we will reach the same conclusion: this boat was designed to look like a real sports boat but not to sail like one.

The rigging is a very simplified one, without a traveler for the mainsail or for the genoa, with a self-taking rail for a jib and only two winches to deal with the sails and reefing. I asked if more winches or a genoa and main traveler could be mounted and received no answer.

Above, Sunbeam 32.1, below Oceanis 30.1

On the technical data they talk about an optional genoa, but genoa rails are not shown anywhere and a genoa with a german mainsheet system and only two winches will be very hard to operate, not to mention the single line reefing system. A german mainsheet system makes not any sense for a boat this size. If an aft mainsheet is used on a boat this size, the more practical and efficient system is a direct mainsheet system with blocks.

I assume that a genoa is not possible, at least in a practical way, because two more winches would be necessary for a different and more complex running rigging, and they were not previewed. 

To a much smaller stability (stiffness) corresponds a much smaller SA/D: the Dehler has a 32.0 SA/D for a 109.9 D/L, the JPK has 29.8 SA/D for a 119.3 D/L, the Sunbeam has 22.1 SA/D for a 167.1 D/L. 

So, no doubt about that, those aggressive high-performance looks have no correspondence to the boat performance, and if we look better we will see that the main hull chine serves nothing other than an aesthetic purpose since it does not correspond to the waterline, on any heeling angle.

In fact, if we look at the transom, which is not clearly shown in any of the pictures we can see that it is not a modern one, a U shaped transom like the ones that were common more than a decade ago and that the chine has no place in that type of hull or transom.

The not related U shaped transom and chine

The superior chine is more interesting and although I believe it was designed mostly to serve an aesthetic purpose, it will probably be useful in deflecting the spray and water when the boat sails fast upwind with waves.

Finally, showing the difference in stability and seaworthiness, both the Dehler and the JPK are certified class A boats while the Sunbeam 32.1 is only certifiable as a class B sailboat.

But if we compare this boat, which is marketed as a daysailer, with the slightly smaller Oceanis 30.1, also only certified class B sailboat, the stability differences, on a not very different hull (finer entries on the Sunbeam) are huge and this time in Sunbeam's favor.

In what regards LWL the Sunbeam has only 21cm more than the Oceanis, the beam is identical (2.98 to 2.99m) and the draft as well (1.80 to 1.88), but the much more efficient Sunbeam torpedo keel will much more than compensate the extra 8cm the Oceanis has in draft.

An even if both boats are only certifiable in class B the Sunbeam offers a lot more stability and seaworthiness, having not only a keel that maximizes the lowering of the CG but also a much bigger B/D: 30.1% to 24.3%. This allows also the Sunbeam to carry more sail and to be a more powerful and fast sailboat (except maybe downwind). This difference in performance results very clear if we look at the SA/D and D/L:  The Sunbeam has a 22.1 SA/D for a 167.1 D/L while the Oceanis has 18.6 SA/D for a 170.8 LWL.

So, yes, The Sunbeam will sail a lot better than an Oceanis 30.1, a sailboat that has been highly acclaimed by the press (and that I don't like) and it has a similar program, daysailing with some weekend cruising. 

The Oceanis is built the same way all Oceanis are built, with single skin and a counter molded structure. The Sunbeams are better built than the Oceanis but the information they gave regarding this boat is scarce, besides mentioning a self-supporting structure (?) and a sandwich hull.

The interior, if we look at the drawings, seems very nice even if the one of the Oceanis seems more practical and bigger. If well built the Sunbeam interior can be very interesting for the type of sailing and cruising that is on the program. It is not only the interior that is very nicely designed, the cockpit space too, with everything well done, functional and ergonomic, including a beautifully designed bimini/cockpit cover.

The outside space is maximized at the cost of interior space and the Sunbeam cockpit is really big. The way the swimming platform is integrated on the cockpit deck is a bright touch, allowing for a space that is suitable for deck chairs and it is unseen on this size of boats.

The problem I see with this sailboat is that instead of calling for an innovative naval architect to design a contemporary top-performance hull and sailing boat, then asking a top general designer to treat the living spaces, they started the opposite way. They asked first the general designer to design the boat and the one responsible for the hull design, and for the sailboat, is not even mentioned.

I believe this video says it all in what regards boat design directives: The main designer is not a yacht designer, in fact in his works I cannot find any other sailboat and the main design directives, as you can see, have nothing to do with sailing but with using the boat as a living space. For that purpose, this boat looks great....not so much as a sailing boat, even if as a sailboat it is way better than the Oceanis.

But that is natural when you start thinking first about designing a beautiful boat and only later making it a sailboat too. They first looked at living spaces and design shapes and only after to sailing performance. This approach is not unseen and it is more and more common, but makes less sense on a daysailer, which is many times used just for sailing and where sailing performance and sailing fun is probably more important than any other design criteria.

Sunbeam 32.1

The Sunbeam 32.1 looks good, the design work is innovative but as a sailboat there is nothing new about it, quite the contrary, the hull is unnecessarily narrow, for performance, the transom design dated and the sail running rigging and sail hardware is limited, as well as the sail performance. 

That does not mean it is a bad sailboat, just that it is not as fast or innovative as it looks, and while many of these expensive daysailers point to sailors that have the money for a luxury finish, they point also to sailors that like to have fun sailing a powerful fast and beautiful yacht, with all sail controls to give the sails a perfect shape, and that it is not certainly the case with the Sunbeam 32.1, that has no backstay, no rail for the main, no rail for the genoa, only two winches for all the sails and for reefing.

The Sunbeam 32.1 offers uncomplicated simple sailing for a beginner, and even if offering better sail performance than an Oceanis, there are plenty of luxury small daysailers that offer much better performance and much more sailing fun as well as some potential for racing.

The Sunbeam 32.1 standard yacht costs about 167 000 euros, excluding VAT, the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 72 192€. The Sunbeam offers the same program as Oceanis, with a luxury finish and high-quality design, on a sailboat that sails better than the Oceanis, but that is not a performance sailboat and not pointed to the ones that will use it to have fun while sailing, and occasionally will race it.

https://www.sail32.com/