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1962 — 1987
Designer
Carl Alberg
Builder
Whitby Boat Works Ltd.
Association
Alberg 30 Site
# Built
700
Hull
Monohull
Keel
Long
Rudder
?
Construction
FG

Dimensions

Length Overall
30 3 / 9.2 m
Waterline Length
21 8 / 6.6 m
Beam
8 9 / 2.7 m
Draft
4 3 / 1.3 m
Displacement
9,000 lb / 4,082 kg
Ballast
3,300 lb / 1,497 kg (Iron)
Drawing of Alberg 30
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  • 9 / 14
    Michigan, US
    1982 Alberg 30
    $20,900 USD
  • 10 / 14
    Michigan, US
    1982 Alberg 30
    $20,900 USD
  • 11 / 14
    Michigan, US
    1982 Alberg 30
    $20,900 USD
  • 12 / 14
    Michigan, US
    1982 Alberg 30
    $20,900 USD
  • 13 / 14
    Michigan, US
    1982 Alberg 30
    $20,900 USD
  • 14 / 14
    Michigan, US
    1982 Alberg 30
    $20,900 USD

Rig and Sails

Type
Sloop
Reported Sail Area
410′² / 38.1 m²
Total Sail Area
410′² / 38.1 m²
Mainsail
Sail Area
221′² / 20.5 m²
P
31 0 / 9.5 m
E
14 2 / 4.3 m
Air Draft
?
Foresail
Sail Area
189′² / 17.6 m²
I
35 11 / 11 m
J
10 5 / 3.2 m
Forestay Length
37 6 / 11.4 m

Auxilary Power

Make
Universal
Model
Atomic 4
HP
30
Fuel Type
Gas
Fuel Capacity
15 gal / 57 l

Accomodations

Water Capacity
30 gal / 114 l
Holding Tank Capacity
?
Headroom
?
Cabins
?

Calculations

Hull Speed
6.0 kn
Classic: 6.24 kn

Hull Speed

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.

Formula

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

A more accurate formula devised by Dave Gerr in The Propeller Handbook replaces the Speed/Length ratio constant of 1.34 with a calculation based on the Displacement/Length ratio.

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

6.0 knots
Classic formula: 6.24 knots
Sail Area/Displacement
15.2
<16: under powered

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.

Formula

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.
15.16
<16: under powered
16-20: good performance
>20: high performance
Ballast/Displacement
36.7
<40: less stiff, less powerful

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.

Formula

Ballast / Displacement * 100

36.67
<40: less stiff, less powerful
>40: stiffer, more powerful
Displacement/Length
393.9
>350: ultraheavy

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.

Formula

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

  • D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
  • LWL: Waterline length in feet
393.91
<100: ultralight
100-200: light
200-300: moderate
300-400: heavy
>400: very heavy
Comfort Ratio
31.6
30-40: moderate bluewater cruising boat

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.

Formula

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam1.33)

  • D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
  • LWL: Waterline length in feet
  • LOA: Length overall in feet
  • Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet
31.62
<20: lightweight racing boat
20-30: coastal cruiser
30-40: moderate bluewater cruising boat
40-50: heavy bluewater boat
>50: extremely heavy bluewater boat
Capsize Screening
1.7
<2.0: better suited for ocean passages

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.

Formula

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

  • Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet
  • D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
1.68
<2: better suited for ocean passages
>2: better suited for coastal cruising

Notes

From BlueWaterBoats.org:

“A legend in it’s own time”, that’s the description John Vigor made about the Alberg 30 in his book Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere. And indeed the Alberg 30 has garnered a huge following with an active community of owners in North America. It’s an unmistakably traditional boat with long overhangs, a narrow beam, and a full cutaway keel-attached rudder, a design harkening back to the early 60s that’s forgiving to sail and seaworthy enough to cross oceans. This 30-footer has many circumnavigations to its credit, perhaps the most notable being that of Yves Gelinas, who made an award winning film of his circumnavigation in Jean du Sud.

History

The Alberg 30 story began, when in 1961, a bunch of Scandinavian style folkboat owners from Toronto’s National Yacht Club got together and approached Whitby Boat Works to design and build them a boat that was bigger. For the design, Whitby Boat Works in turn approached Carl Alberg (1900 – 1986), at that time one of America’s leading yacht designers.

The brief that was given to Alberg was for a boat built from fiberglass that would sleep four. The configuration had to have a full keel, a practical cockpit, and an interior that had full standing headroom interior and a decent galley. The boat that resulted was the Alberg 30 which was introduced in the following year of 1962.

While the boats were being built a group of sailors from Washington DC inspected the Alberg 30 at Whitby Boat Works and left with firm orders for 15. Another group from Annapolis left with orders for 12, the production run continued into what has become a one of the longest runs on record tallying over 750 boats through a 22 year period. Today Alberg 30s can be found scattered over all parts of the world, but mainly concentrating around North America and particularly in Chesapeake Bay where a vibrant owners association has approximately 250 members.

Boat Configuration

The Alberg 30 is classic design from the 1960s period when many boats were transitioning from wood to fiberglass construction. Narrow beam, low freeboard, large overhangs, and a full keel with a cutaway on the forefoot and a rudder directly attached were the order of the day. When looking at the history of how the boat came to be, it’s not surprising the design is heavily influenced by the Scandinavian folkboat style, Carl Alberg himself being a Swedish born American.

By modern standards the boat’s narrow beam and low freeboard means the insides will seem extremely small and cramped however this traditional approach to seaworthiness pays dividends in rough seas with a hull that is ultimately stable and seakindly.

Berths accommodating a crew of four are divided into two areas, two in the v-berth, and two in the main saloon area. In between is the head.

The galley is situated in the well vented space at the back of the saloon below the companionway where the cook can be a part of the social happenings outside in the cockpit when under anchor.

Construction

The boats are solidly built. It was a time when fiberglass was the new wonder material and pioneering a new material meant construction was pretty conservative. That translated into lots of glass fiber and lots of resin. The fiberglass was hand laid and polyester resin was used. Early decks were cored with Masonite, which gave way in favor of balsa after 1970.

The mast is deck-stepped and supported originally by a laminated wooden beam on early boats, which over the years have proven to be a weak point. Boats produced from 1970 changed over to an aluminum beam encased with fiberglass. It’s not uncommon to find early boats to have been retrofitted with aluminum supporting beam.

Though the original design by Alberg called for lead ballast, the boats were instead produced with iron ballast encapsulated inside the keel cavity. This resulted in early boats being quite tender and more ballast was added to subsequent production to correct for this.

Under Sail

The Alberg 30 has been described as a forgiving boat to sail. In its day it would have been considered a relatively quick boat, being designed to be raced under the Cruising Club of America racing rules, but don’t expect modern day performance. The boat will not point particularly high to windward, the best point of sail is reported to be a beam reach to close reach. Expect some amount of hobby-horsing.

As conditions get rougher, the Alberg 30’s seaworthiness starts to shine, with its narrow beam the boat tends to slice through the waves where modern designs which favor beaminess and high freeboard will get thrown around. In more extreme conditions, the classically seaworthy design is well suited for heaving-to or laying ahull without complications.

Buyers Notes

Advice can be sought from the active community of owner associations. Particular areas for inspection are listed below:

  • Check the support under the deck-stepped mast for signs of delamination. Pre-1970 models were of laminated wood, check for signs of cracking.
  • Its been reported the forward lower shroud chainplates are not well supported and should be inspected closely for signs of movement or stress.
  • Check the deck for delamination as well as signs of rot in the coring (creaking sounds).
  • On older boats, the heel fitting on the rudder may be worn.
  • The rudders on the earliest boats were reported not to be strong enough with the internal reinforcing parting from the fiberglass.

As of 2010, the asking price of Alberg 30s generally range from $15k-$30k USD depending on their condition as much as their year of build. There are the odd examples that are asking much higher prices having undergone very extensive rebuilds and presenting themselves in “as new” condition.

Links, References and Further Reading

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