formosa 51 sailboat data

The Formosa 51 is a 51.0ft staysail ketch designed by William Garden and built in fiberglass by Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd. between 1972 and 1984.

The Formosa 51 is a very heavy sailboat which is under powered. It is not stiff and has an excellent righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a heavy bluewater cruising boat.

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Formosa 51 is a 50 ′ 11 ″ / 15.5 m monohull sailboat designed by William Garden and built by Ta Chiao and Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd. between 1972 and 1984.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

A number of production yachts were based on this design including the HUDSON FORCE 50, GOLDCOAST OFFSHORE 50.

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FORMOSA 51 Detailed Review

If you are a boat enthusiast looking to get more information on specs, built, make, etc. of different boats, then here is a complete review of FORMOSA 51. Built by Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd. and designed by William Garden, the boat was first built in 1972. It has a hull type of Long Keel and LOA is 15.49. Its sail area/displacement ratio 14.47. Its auxiliary power tank, manufactured by Lehman Ford, runs on Diesel.

FORMOSA 51 has retained its value as a result of superior building, a solid reputation, and a devoted owner base. Read on to find out more about FORMOSA 51 and decide if it is a fit for your boating needs.

Boat Information

Boat specifications, sail boat calculation, rig and sail specs, auxillary power tank, accomodations, contributions, who designed the formosa 51.

FORMOSA 51 was designed by William Garden.

Who builds FORMOSA 51?

FORMOSA 51 is built by Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd..

When was FORMOSA 51 first built?

FORMOSA 51 was first built in 1972.

How long is FORMOSA 51?

FORMOSA 51 is 12.06 m in length.

What is mast height on FORMOSA 51?

FORMOSA 51 has a mast height of 14.72 m.

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Review of Formosa 51

Basic specs..

The Formosa 51 is equipped with a long keel. A long keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.90 - 2.00 meter (6.23 - 6.53 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

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 Formosa 51 is 1.48, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - 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 8.4 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 Formosa 51 is about 348 kg/cm, alternatively 1952 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 348 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1952 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)?

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

What is a Ballast Ratio?

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

Maintenance

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 38m 2 (409 ft 2 ). Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

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.

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

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

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If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us . Criticism helps us to improve.

1980 Formosa 51 Technical Specs

General data about formosa 51, engine and power specs, dimensions and wieght, detailed specifications, features and equipments, sailing features, other equipments, interior specifications, exterior features, electronical and electrical info, deck hardware.

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• Formosa provided us with the latest version of its 51 service repair manual
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Dose anyone know where I can find information on the build specs for a 51 Formosa. I`m looking for information on the quality of construction, any problems the boat was prone too and if anyone that has one if they could tell more of there expierences with the boat. there are two boats that I have in mind a 1974 and a 1979. Any information would be helpful. Thanks, Chuck  

The Formosa(s) are generally poorly built ‘pigs’. The builder did''nt adhere to the design specifications, so they may not be of much use (if available). IMHO Gord  

Can you be more specific? Where did you get this information? Thanks, Chuck  

The Formosa 51''s are a pretty well known quantity. The design is a loose interpretation of a William Garden design built to a very loose standard (although there appears to be some variation in the build quality). They are grossly overweight, undercanvassed, and grossly underballasted. You might want to do a search. There has been a lot of discussion of these boats in the past with owners and people experienced describing the good (roomy and cheap), the okay (you can find some of these boats lovingly restored, updated and upgraded), and the bad (worse than poor sailing ability, miserable motion [at least to some]and extremely shoddy original build quality). Jeff  

Thanks Jeff. Do the CT 54`s also fall in this relm or are they a better boat? Chuck  

CT''s are something of a mixed bag. They made some really dismal boats that were pretty poorly built and some pretty neat boats that seemed to have been built to a reasonable standard. I don''t have any first hand knowledge of the CT-54. I think that the CT54''s started life as a Bob Perry design and, as such, probably would have been a bit more moderate than the Formosa 51 and probably better thought through. Like the Formosa 51 the CT54''s are also wildly heavy boats but they do have a better ballast to weight ratio than the Formosa. I would suggest that you post your question on the Cruising World General Forum website. http://phpbb.worldpub.net/index.php Bob Perry frequents that website and might give you a better appraisal. You might perhaps try a subject title like ''CT 54 question for Bob Perry'' to catch his attention. Bob also has an extremely reasonably priced consulting service that he provides. Frankly, I am probably the wrong guy to ask about boats of this genre. I just do not understadn their reasons for being. It is not that I do not like traditional water craft. I have been a student of small craft history since a small child and have sailed on traditional small boats when ever I can get a chance. IOW, I truly love traditional working craft and yachts that accurately reflect the virtues of traditional boats. And I also really enjoy the better sailing capabilities, ease of handling, and enhansed seaworthiness of the better contemporary designs. I am not a fan of the ''character boat'' genre that, for the most part, neither have the virtues of historic sailing craft nor of modern design. Just out of curiousity, and I may be mistaken on this, weren''t you the fellow who was in the process of buying a Beneteau 473 last year to go distance cruising. What happened with that? Good Luck, Jeff  

Yes I was looking at the 473 but decided against it. I guess I must have been an old salt in a past life. Even though I currently own a 2004 41 Hunter, I still think that the fin keel flat bottom boats have there special place of coastal cruising, sounds and rivers. My wife and I really like the old classic boat such as the CT`s and the Formosa`s. With the heavy wieght deep full keel makes the boat far more confortable and in follow seas a little more forgiving. Coming from a 4000 sq ft house my wife love the extra room. I like the ability of having a bit of a work shop on the boat. As a marine technician of main engines and generator it makes it use for earning while you cruise. So having room to carry spares for some of the more popular equipment that in other boat makes it nice for fellow cruiser that may need an impeller or belt. I love the old craftsmanship that you just don`t see anymore. By the way what is your thought on wooden spares? Each of the boats that I am looking at hvae them. they are in excellent shape and are keel stepped. I know it will require more maintenance but what the hell, what else are you going to do out there when all the beer and wine is gone. Well thanks for you thoughts. Chuck  

Here''s the deal as I see it, first off you have been sold the old myth that "full keel makes the boat far more confortable and in follow seas a little more forgiving". Sorry Dude there really is no truth to that. Its an old wive''s tale pretty much debunked in testing and in practical reality. While radical fin keels don''t do a great job of tracking on their own, moderate length fins coupled with skeg hung rudders and a properly shaped hull form are actually better in a following sea situation where. Full length keels tend to lock in on whichever direction the waves have thrown them and their relatively inefficient rudders generally do not have the ability to steer them out of the broach. Been there, done that......Boats with a cut away forefoot and a skeg rudder have a better chance of being steered out of the broach. There are a whole range of factors that affect how well a boat steers in a following sea. Finer hulled designs with finer entries tend to track reasonably well regardless of their keel type. Blunt ended boats even when they have long keels (like the Formosa) tend to be a bear to steer in a large following seas as they will skew. Long keels are not any more inherently stable than fin keels. Stability is a product of weight distribution, displacement distribution (both static and heeled), and the forces that come into play that try to roll the boat. Generally fin keels have more stability and generate lower rolling forces than full keels. Full keels have enormous side areas and in a broaching situation, (which is the most common case where a roll over occurs) tend to generate disproportionately high roll moments compared to fin keels. Boats like the Formosa have extremely small ballast to weight ratios, and extremely high vertical center of gravity that comes from a combination of their high and heavby deck structures, heavy interior appointments, heavy spars, and comparatively low balalst ratios and low density ballast (typically scrap iron set in concrete on these older Taiwanese boats). As to the wooden spars, I have owned a number of boats that have had wooden spars. In the topics these really need a lot of maintenance. In Florida, we were averaging one or two coats of varnish ever two months (the sails abrade spots on the spar so you end up vanishing spars more frequently than you do other varnish work.) The oriental spars have a pretty poor reputation. The wood used was not as rot resistant as the Sitka spruce that was typically used in the States (not that sitka spruce was all that rot resistant). And the glues were not that great either. Wooden box spars, as used on these boats, rot from the inside out and so can look perfect but be shot inside, and the glue is thought to have a 25 to 30 year practical lifespan. In other words these spars are near the end of their reliable lifespan. Its fine for coastal cruising but not something that I would ever take offshore. As to the ''old craftmanship'', these boats were beautifully finished, but they were not what I would call an example of good craftsmanship. In any event, the last time we discussed your plans, you were talking about doing a circumnavigation. If these were comparatively new boats, I''d say, go knock yourself out, just bring lots of spares and plan to spend a lot of time and money on maintenance. But you are discussing nearly 30 year old boats which were built in a manner that they will need major rebuilding to be able to stand up to the rigors of what you were proposing. Respectfully, Jeff  

So what boat should I buy for under 200k? What kind of boat do you have? Thanks Chuck  

Jeff talks a little about his own boat and general boats like his here: http://tinyurl.com/c9pum Some searching on yachtworld.com turns up some interesting hits with the parameters of 160-200k, 40-55 feet. These are fin keeled boats with no teak deks mostly built by yards with decent reputations. Of course, as has been said many times, when talking about boats that are 20 year old or more it''s all about the maintenance and the care that was taken with it. http://tinyurl.com/b5d7u http://tinyurl.com/8xewc http://tinyurl.com/apkwb http://tinyurl.com/8bd2x http://tinyurl.com/8snpe http://tinyurl.com/9hjun http://tinyurl.com/cbk3k  

I just got back and saw your question. I am afraid that I do not have the time to give you a detailed answer during my lunch break but in a general sense there are several general points that I think are relevant to your question and boat search. To begin with, when you talk about a 50-60 footer, you are talking about a very big boat and then you are looking at boats like the Formosa 51 and Ct54 that are boats that cram an especially huge amount of displacement and accomodations into a their sailing length and whose actual length in terms of renting a slip, or needing room to manuever or tie up will be closer to 60-62 feet with their bowprits and davits. When you look for a boat of this general length, no less sheer size size of these these two, that are priced within your budget there are bound to be compromises. Even older and mediocre condition reasonable quality boats in your size range would tend to cost considerably more than your budget. Something like a Whitby Brewer 55, Pearson 530, or Tayana 52 or 55, which all would be good posibilities in many ways, in decent shape will still be well over your price range, and given the size of these boats, one at a price any where near you price range would require a large amount to refit for the kind of passage making that you have had in mind. Because of that, you are effectively looking for a boat that for one reason or another is priced below its general worth for reasons other than poor design, or build quality, or dismal condition. An example of that may be something like this Aeromarine (I don''t know enough about the boat to know why it is priced as it is): http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_full_detail.jsp?slim=quick&boat_id=1405822&units=Feet¤cy=USD&access=Public&listing_id=37868&url= Or this Custom Swedish boat (again I don''t know why it is priced as it is but suspect that its deep draft is a major reason). http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_full_detail.jsp?slim=quick&boat_id=1346294&units=Feet¤cy=USD&access=Public&listing_id=3584&url= There are boats like the Gulfstar 55''s that are pretty inexpensive and readily available but would probably require a major refit to do the kind of voyaging in you have in mind. Last time that we talked about a distance cruiser, I had strongly recommended that you try to find a well found Peterson 46 without teak decks or a Brewer 12.8 in good sound shape. These are way smaller than the boats that you have been considering of late but probably better suited. I think that the boat that I own is pretty much irrelevant to your search. For what it si worth, I own a Farr 11.6 (Farr 39). Doing a cut and paste of an earlier post I descrived her as: " The Farr 11.6 (Farr 38) were built as cruiser/racers and in their day they were extremely fast compared to other 38 footers that could be cruised. Compared to cruiser/racers of that era, they were very light. With a design weight of only 10,600 lbs., they were 2/3 of the weight of a normal 38 foot coastal cruiser of that era. In some ways these were boats with a split personality. Sisterships of my boat are distance cruising all over the world. My boat, for example, was single-handed in from South Africa on her own bottom. Yet, when these were new boats, Farr 11.6’s were also winning races in a wide range of venues. My boat was designed at an interesting point in Bruce Farr''s and yacht design history. Farr, like many top designers, had been designing race boats to compete under the IOR racing rule and had done so quite successfully. But in the early 1980''s designers and racers were becoming disillusioned with boats optimized for the IOR rule. These early 80’s IOR boats were comparably slow, tender and difficult to sail especially in heavy conditions or with short crews. Designers began designing large one-design, offshore capable, keel-boats that were designed to be more well rounded designs and which were not specifically optimized to any racing rule. For example this is the era that saw the introduction of boats like J-36/35, Express 37 and Santana 36. Into that climate, Bruce Farr designed the Farr 11.6. The boat was a big hit in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with well over a 125 of these boats built worldwide. In a lot of ways she was also a typical family cruiser built for use in New Zealand. The New Zealanders have a culture of cruising carefully engineered, very light weight boats. During this era Bruce Farr designed a whole range of very fast cruising boats similar in concept to the 11.6 but ranging from 21 feet up to 60 footers. Even in the early 1980''s, these fast cruisers offered a lot of carrying capacity for their dry weight, had surprisingly comfortable motions and were quite stabile as compared to the light boats that we knew at that time in the northern hemisphere. The engineering on my boat is amazing. The 11.6 has a comparatively thin skin supported on closely spaced framing. The boat has a series of closely spaced, hand glassed longitudinal stringers that run the length of the boat and terminate at a squash block at the bow knuckle. Depending on where you are in the boat, there are transverse framing or a structural bulkhead every 20” to 30”, The framing around the keel area consists of massive glassed in transverse frames. These are incredible stiff and sturdy boats that really seem to stand up to a lot of abuse. Today she is pretty slow when compared to modern race boats. But she was the last of the last generation of boats that could be raced or cruised in a wide range of conditions. She is remarkably easy to handle single-handed and in a breeze. She points well for a cruising boat and is very fast in a wide range of conditions. Although light in weight, her hull form and weight distribution makes the Farr 11.6 surprising comfortable in rough going." In any event, sandwich done and work beckoning....Good luck, Jeff  

Worst part about being a formosa owner is every time I Google anything about my boat I get a forum thread from one of several different communities with Jeff H bashing my boat. Heavy long keel ketches aren't everyone's bag but... If you hit my boat with your boat I might wake up. If I hit a coral head/shipping container i won't **** my pants I have jumping headroom in a 36'er My rudder won't need replacement every Caribbean season My prop is amply protected The difference in ballast distribution produces a more comfortable movement both at sea and on the hook I can sail jib and jigger I can blow 1 halyard in the night to go from zephyr mode to 25+ knot wind mode without altering course or loosing speed - or completely waking up. Being dismasted doesn't preclude me from sailing. Either jib n jigger or shloop style depending. I don't need my kids to crew, everything is manageable (split rig, smaller sails, less effort) I forgot where I set my coffee and later found it unspoilt and unspilled. 9' swells, blowing 20s. My butt never gets wet unless I want it to. Or it rained. Jeff. You're obviously not an idiot, and I respect your opinion as much as I disagree with it. I do feel these boats have a niche they're meant for and they fill it excellently. Sorry for thread necro but if it comes up by googling "formosa ketch" it's obv still relevant. Best wishes to all.  

truenomads333 said: Worst part about being a formosa owner is every time I Google anything about my boat I get a forum thread from one of several different communities with Jeff H bashing my boat. Heavy long keel ketches aren't everyone's bag but... If you hit my boat with your boat I might wake up. If I hit a coral head/shipping container i won't **** my pants I have jumping headroom in a 36'er My rudder won't need replacement every Caribbean season My prop is amply protected The difference in ballast distribution produces a more comfortable movement both at sea and on the hook I can sail jib and jigger I can blow 1 halyard in the night to go from zephyr mode to 25+ knot wind mode without altering course or loosing speed - or completely waking up. Being dismasted doesn't preclude me from sailing. Either jib n jigger or shloop style depending. I don't need my kids to crew, everything is manageable (split rig, smaller sails, less effort) I forgot where I set my coffee and later found it unspoilt and unspilled. 9' swells, blowing 20s. My butt never gets wet unless I want it to. Or it rained. Jeff. You're obviously not an idiot, and I respect your opinion as much as I disagree with it. I do feel these boats have a niche they're meant for and they fill it excellently. Sorry for thread necro but if it comes up by googling "formosa ketch" it's obv still relevant. Best wishes to all. Click to expand...

Absolutely nothing good to say about the Formosas' I've surveyed.  

Thread locked. Replying to a post from 2005. Sorry guys, the whole boating industry has changed, Dang, so has the internet.  

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Check out (sorry no links) –

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