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Calipso 41

2012 February 6

Bluewater cruiser
Here is a wholesome cruising boat from designers Paolo Lodigiani and Matteo Costa of Italy. The builder is Ninfa Yachts of Milano. The intent is a moderately proportioned, offshore cruising boat. Let's take a look at how this design team translated those often addressed requirements.

The hull has nice lines with not too much beam aft. The D/L is 171 based upon the "light" displacement given. The L/B is 3.22, indicating a boat on the beamy side but very typical of modern designs. The entry is sharply V-ed and this V fairs to a midsection with 12 degrees of deadrise and a soft turn to the bilge. This deadrise continues aft to make an attractively shaped transom. To my eye there is too much spring forward in the sheer and not enough spring aft. If you were to build a half model of this hull and attempt to lay it, sheer down, on a tabletop, you would find that the sheer does not hit the table all along its length. This indicates a "non-planar" sheer. You do not have to have a planar sheer but for some boats it's a good place for the designer to start to ensure the sheer looks fair from every angle. With moderate bow overhang and almost no stern overhang the Calipso 41 has a long sailing length. The rudder is on an unusually short chord, i.e. narrow, partial skeg. This allows some balance area forward of the stock. I'm just not sure why that skeg is there. With those proportions it will be hard to give the skeg much strength.

The Calipso is laid out for two couples. There is a V-berth double forward and a double quarterberth aft. There are two heads and the forward head is quite large and includes a shower stall. With the heads of both berths restricted by partial bulkheads it is not going to be easy to get in and out of either berth when a couple is using it. The galley runs down the starboard side of the saloon. There is a centerline bench for the dinette to port. This will work but I favor U-shaped galleys for offshore boats and I like to be able to spread out when I am relaxing in the saloon. On the practical side this design has lots of stowage volume aft.
The deck layout of the 41 features a long cockpit with a deep bridgedeck forward and a step down to the main cockpit level. The cockpit coamings look too wide to me while the seats look not wide enough. I like deep seats in the cockpit so you can stretch out for a sunny day's nap once in a while. The small hatches for access to the aft stowage areas will make accessing bulky gear awkward at best. There is life raft storage under the helm seat. The mainsheet traveler bridges the cockpit well.

The sailplan shows a fractional rig with an SA/D of 19.16 based upon the light displacement. This is enough horsepower per pound to give the 41 good performance in light air. Spreaders are swept and the working jib is self-tacking. There is a jib sheeting track on the housetop that will allow for a 10-degree sheeting angle. A little more width on the track would be nice for when you bear off and need to open the slot a bit.

The Calipso is built in a combination of strip planking and cold-molded skins. This is a good way to build a boat and usually involves a couple of cold-molded layers on top of a strip-planked base skin. The planking is Sapili mahogany set in epoxy resin. Both sides of the wood hull are sheathed in GRP.