sail area and PHRF for Beneteau 323

Oct 7, 2013
51
beneteau 323 (2004) mandeville, la
I own a 2004 Beneteau 323 with an in-mast furling mainsail and a 116 genoa. I would like to know the sail area for the boat and its approximate PHRF rating.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Your sail area is about 500 sqr feet. The actual number will depend on how much (or little) roach your main has in it. Roller furling mains are typically cut with none so the leech will not flutter.

In Gulf PHRF (your area) the boat rates 168. You might be able to get credit for the furling main. Because your boat cannot fly overlapping headsails your smaller jib (vs 155% genoa) is already factored into that number.
 
Last edited:
Oct 7, 2013
51
beneteau 323 (2004) mandeville, la
reply

Look on the boat info tab for lots of 323 stuff.
sorry, but the information that is available does not reflect the fact that the boat's sails matter concerning both the sail area and the PHRF. The information posted is for the "regular" sail configuration (most importantly, a regular mainsail. My boat has an in-mast furling main (I have heard that reduces the sail area by 15%, but does that mean of the mainsail or of the total?
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
s My boat has an in-mast furling main (I have heard that reduces the sail area by 15%, but does that mean of the mainsail or of the total?
Just your main. The max difference is 15%, typically more like 10.

The area of a roached mainsail is about P * E / 1.8

Yours is closer to P * E / 2.0

But this can depend greatly on your particular mainsail. If you have vertical battens, your reduction of area is probably much less.
 
Oct 7, 2013
51
beneteau 323 (2004) mandeville, la
Your sail area is about 500 sqr feet. The actual number will depend on how much (or little) roach your main has in it. Roller furling mains are typically cut with none so the leech will not flutter.

In Gulf PHRF (your area) the boat rates 168. You might be able to get credit for the furling main. Because your boat cannot fly overlapping headsails your jib is already factored into that number.
Thanks for your reply.

I read somewhere that an in-mast furling main reduces the sail area by 15%, but does that mean the total sail area or the sail area of the main? You are correct that the main has almost (or even no) roach.

I have already checked the GYA website for the PHRF for the boat. There are two boats listed there, one is rated at 195, the other at 201, quite a bit of difference between these numbers and your number of 168 (where did you get this number?); this difference is the source of
my question.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Thanks for your reply.

I read somewhere that an in-mast furling main reduces the sail area by 15%, but does that mean the total sail area or the sail area of the main? You are correct that the main has almost (or even no) roach.

I have already checked the GYA website for the PHRF for the boat. There are two boats listed there, one is rated at 195, the other at 201, quite a bit of difference between these numbers and your number of 168 (where did you get this number?); this difference is the source of
my question.
The 15% is reduction of the main ONLY. The number is a generalization; it assumes a certain amount of roach in the regular main, and an amount in the roller sail. Both can vary widely.

I got my number from the US SAILING PHRF database. It is a spinnaker number for a Gulf PHRF. If you are looking at JAM (Jib and Main) numbers they will be higher.
 
Oct 7, 2013
51
beneteau 323 (2004) mandeville, la
The 15% is reduction of the main ONLY. The number is a generalization; it assumes a certain amount of roach in the regular main, and an amount in the roller sail. Both can vary widely.

I got my number from the US SAILING PHRF database. It is a spinnaker number for a Gulf PHRF. If you are looking at JAM (Jib and Main) numbers they will be higher.

Thanks both for the information and your clarification. I think that you are correct that your PHRF rating is for boats with spinnakers; that is probably the reason for the gap between your number and the numbers that I found when I looked at the GYA's most recent PHRF numbers for the two 323's that it rates.
 
May 17, 2004
5,847
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
The North Sails guide for our Oceanis 37 says that the roller furling mail would usually take 10% of the main sail area away, but having 4 vertical battens replaces half of that. PHRF of the Chesapeake seems to include the roller furling in the base handicap for our model, or at least they didn't add any adjustment for it.
 
Oct 7, 2013
51
beneteau 323 (2004) mandeville, la
The North Sails guide for our Oceanis 37 says that the roller furling mail would usually take 10% of the main sail area away, but having 4 vertical battens replaces half of that. PHRF of the Chesapeake seems to include the roller furling in the base handicap for our model, or at least they didn't add any adjustment for it.


Thanks for your input. As noted above, for my boat, the information is that the in-mast furler is 15% smaller than the conventional mainsail. Since I do not have vertical battens, I will probably get an adjustment for the smaller main. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.
 
May 24, 2007
185
Beneteau 352 Milwaukee, WI
Assuming you have the original Neil Pryde OEM sails . . .

The 116% Genny is 255.6426 Sq Ft
The RF Main is 236.8058 Sq Ft
Total sail area for a Bene 323 with RF Main is 492.4484

As a comparison, the Std Main on a 323 has 286.4274 sq ft with total sail area 542.07 sq ft.

Source: Owner's Manual, pages 32,33 & 34. http://beneteau.sailboatowners.com/images/kb/pdf/1266.pdf
Most PHRF orgs require a sail makers certification and pages 33 & 34 may meet their requirements.

Can't help with the PHRF rating as the numbers vary from sanctioning org to sanctioning org.
 
Oct 7, 2013
51
beneteau 323 (2004) mandeville, la
Assuming you have the original Neil Pryde OEM sails . . .

The 116% Genny is 255.6426 Sq Ft
The RF Main is 236.8058 Sq Ft
Total sail area for a Bene 323 with RF Main is 492.4484

As a comparison, the Std Main on a 323 has 286.4274 sq ft with total sail area 542.07 sq ft.

Source: Owner's Manual, pages 32,33 & 34. http://beneteau.sailboatowners.com/images/kb/pdf/1266.pdf
Most PHRF orgs require a sail makers certification and pages 33 & 34 may meet their requirements.

Can't help with the PHRF rating as the numbers vary from sanctioning org to sanctioning org.
Thanks for sending me in the right direction. I thought that I had looked for this information in the owners manual, but if I had, I wouldn't have posted this question, would I?