formosa 46 sailboatdata

The Formosa 46 is a 45.0ft cutter designed by Doug Peterson and built in fiberglass by Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd. since 1978.

The Formosa 46 is a moderate weight sailboat which is slightly under powered. It is reasonably stable / stiff and has an excellent righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a heavy bluewater cruising boat.

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Review of Formosa 46

Basic specs..

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

The Formosa 46 is equipped with a long keel. A full 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 1.97 - 2.07 meter (6.46 - 6.76 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 46 is 1.63, 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 46 is about 318 kg/cm, alternatively 1782 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 318 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1782 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?

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio) Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind: - Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15 - Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20 - Racers have ratios above 20 - High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24 Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 15.90

Maintenance

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 36m 2 (387 ft 2 ). Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

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 is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

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

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Formosa 46 it would be a great help.

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

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We Never Underestimate Your Dreams

Kelly peterson 46 review: a lover named kelly.

The Kelly Peterson 46 and her smaller sister, the 44, have a place in the hearts of cruisers. One interested client I met said, “Oh there’s a Kelly here?” in a soft, careful tone that let on a tender affection for the feminine name. Calling one “Kelly” feels like naming a lover. These are beautiful boats with nice overhangs, sweet sheer, and spectacular sailing skills. They were meant to sail about the best possible in all conditions. In the 1970’s, Jack Kelly was a San Diego, California yacht broker. Seeing what all his clients were looking for, he decided to build the perfect boat. He joined with designer Doug Peterson famous from racing designs such as the Van De Stadt’s Storm Vogel. In 1976, they came up with a centercockpit performance cruiser instead of the aft cockpit Valiant 40. Kelly thought he might build 10, sell 9, and go cruising. Instead, he built about 200 44s in Taiwan over a six year production run. Formosa Yachts, another yard in Taiwan, started building an 2′ extended variation of the 44 they called the 46 Formosa in the early 1980s. Jack Kelly extended the 44 into the 46 Kelly Peterson. This review will mostly deal with the 46-foot versions. These two especially the 46 Kelly Petersons are much more prized in the brokerage market.

First Impressions Essentially, the 44 Kelly Peterson was a double ender with her stern cut-off. This made a rather abrupt ending to a pleasing design. The 46-footers added a counter stern which improves her tremendously. The design has a low profile trunk cabin and sleek fast look. The bow has a moderate rake allowing a soft motion and clean entry. The beam is carried slightly aft of midships. Her sheer curves gently up forward giving 2 inches more of freeboard. Lovely teak frames the rail and handles. I really like her look. Underneath, Peterson was a racing designer, and his skeg hung rudder and long fin keel are fast. There is more wetted surface than you see these days. The keel is slightly greater than most look for at 6’4″. Okay for Jack Kelly on the West Coast but unfortunate for the Bahamas. The beefy 2 spreader cutter rig has more than 1000 square feet of sail area. She is not undercanvased.

Construction There is some confusion about the actual builders of these different models. The simplest version claims that the Kaohshing yard Yu Ching Marine built the 44s, Formosa Yachts built the 46 Formosas, and Queen Long Marine built the 46 Kelly Petersons. Likely, both Formosa and Queen Long built 44s as well as maybe other Taiwanese yards. Some claim another 400 KP 44’s were built in addition to the 200 by Yu Ching. As well, other yards may have built the 46 Kelly Petersons along with Queen Long. According to brokerage records, the last true Kelly Peterson built, hull #30, was Esprit in 1990.

The construction depends on the manufacturer, and it is hard to make generalizations. Her hull almost guaranteed to be the common Taiwan construction of mat and roving with polyester resin. The deck and trunk cabin are cored with plywood. The hull-deck joint is the common lip-tongue. Most 44’s had iron internal ballast while the Queen Long 46’s had ten thousand pounds of lead. I have heard of solid glass rudders. A member of the KP44 owners association rebuilt his rudder which had 2 inches of fiberglass cored with plywood. He writes that he had heard that “the internal structure consisted of several ‘rods’ that were butt welded to the stock, sticking out like fingers into the rudder.” Because his rudder weeped a black, smelly fluid during haul-outs, he decided to rebuild the rudder. It turned out that the internal structure of his was two stainless steel plates shaped like epsilons. This illustrates the kind of variations in Kelly Petersons.

What To Look For Who was the builder? Jack Kelly built 200 in the Yu Ching yard. Queen Long is the finest yard in Tawain, builder of Hylas Yachts. Formosa is a lower quality yard in Tawain. According to one source, these and possibly other yards in Taiwan built an additional 400 more 44’s. Sources say that Formosa then moved onto an extended version that reportedly cut out Doug Peterson and certainly Jack Kelly. One thing is for sure – these 46 Formosa or 46 Petersons sell for less on the market because of a perceived lower quality build. Queen Long built 46 Kelly Petersons have the best reputation. Whether Formosa or Queen Long, the 46s have an extended stern that produced a much roomier interior. One client who had seen both the 44 and then a 46 said, “Wow, there’s so much more room. I need to recheck my bank accounts. I loved the 44, but the 46 is such a nice interior.” There is really no comparison. Although the 46 is a better boat, this does not diminish my admiration for the 44.

Rudder problems are common. Whether due to shoddy stainless or the bronze heel bearing, keep an eye on your rudder because rudder failure is one of the worst experiences. Britt Finley of the KP44 owners group talks about breaking his rudder on a sail from New Zealand to Fiji. The welds broke at the rudder stock. He says, “Be careful and avoid putting any extra load on the rudder. If your rudder is leaking, like mine did, perhaps you should fix it soon. You will have more peace of mind.” The 44 Petersons are victims of the shoddy stainless steel which plagued the early Taiwanese builders. The stainless steel water tanks are prone to cracking. Be careful on these Taiwanese boats from the 1970’s. The fuel tanks were black iron and should be okay. As a final note, Bill Stevens of Stevens Yachts Charters and others chartered 44/46’s in the Caribbean during the 80’s. Stevens commissioned them at his yard in North Carolina.

On Deck and Down Below The KP has two companion ways fore and aft to the master stateroom. The 46 even has an entrance through the portside combing. I could not find the key when showing a KP 46, so I opened this combing up. We jumped through to see the interior. It is a surprising entrance. The 46 both Formosa and KP have lengthened cockpits. They are centercockpit cutter rigged and great room, full wide decks. Down below, aft is a centerline queen. These are 2 staterooms like a Hylas 44 with the V-berth forward. A galley is portside – no double walkthrough. And there is space on the KP 46 where that portside combing opens for a workroom.

Engine and Underway Engine access is excellent from both sides. Most 44’s have a 62 Perkins 4-152 diesel while a few have 80 HP Ford Lehmans. Doug Peterson was a famous IOR racing designer. The Kelly Peterson was part of the era of performance cruisers started by the Valiant 40. She has a long fin keel and skeg hung rudder. She sails fast and even well offshore reeling off 180 mile days in the trades with ease. She was meant to sail well in any wind. Her sheerline sharply increases forward making her a dryer than usual centercockpit. The 44 and later 46 was a popular charterboat used by Bill Stevens of Stevens Caribbean Charters in the 1980’s. He would purchase them from Queen Long in Taiwan and commission them at his North Carolina yard. This relationship further developed with the legendary Stevens / Hylas 47.

Conclusion Kelly’s sell for up to $200,000 on the used market. There is usually a good selection of them as they produced many hulls. Just make sure you know the manufacturer to gauge the quality. An excellent resource for more information is the KP44.org owners’ group site. There is a helpful Yahoo mailing list run by this owner group that you can ask questions on.

5 Replies to “Kelly Peterson 46 Review: A Lover Named Kelly”

Had a phone call with the question as follows: How many Kelly Peterson 46’s were built?

A SoldBoats report in the brokerage records indicates that Queen Long produced 30 hulls. The listing states, “Espirit had professional care since new in 1990. A Transpac Vet with an impressive equipment list. This is the last K/P 46 built, hull #30.” A full copy of the listing is available upon request.

boa tarde sou do rio de janeiro e estou apaixonado por este veleiro 46,gostaria de comprar um kite e construi-lo aqui no brasil, tenho visto outro barcos mas este foi amor pela primeira vista

Awesome. Linhas bonitas. Boa sorte. RJ

Just a quick note, our KP 46′ hull #21, Kanaloa, built in 1986 has an 82 HP Pathfinder engine. It has Ben a terrific engine. Great article and it makes me proud to own one. Ours was built at the Queen Long yard. Thanks.

“Our plan is to go north from Washington State this time around, we sailed across the South Pacific last time and sold our boat in Australia. So, if you have anything of interest as far as an off shore cruising boat, 40′ to 46′ in the US (preferably on the Pacific Coast) you can send it along.

for the right boat about $150 tops. We have been trying to find a well maintained Kelly Peterson 46′, if you know that boat there are only 30 of them so not easy to find much less one that has been maintained. That boat style is the bench mark, no huge freeboard center cockpit boats like the Fuji 40′, we don’t mind bending over those few short steps back to the aft stateroom. We would love to find a center cockpit but willing to look at others. Also truly don’t want teak decks and huge bright work (I should know since it’s what I do for a living) although again for the right boat in every other way…thanks for inquiring about our needs.”

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1981 Formosa 46 Technical Specs

General data about formosa 46.

Engine and Power Specs

Dimensions And Wieght

Detailed Specifications

Features And Equipments

Sailing features.

Interior Specifications

Exterior Features

Electronical And Electrical Info

Deck Hardware

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Spindrift 46

Spindrift 46 is a 45 ′ 0 ″ / 13.7 m monohull sailboat designed by Ron Hillier/D. Peterson (unauthorized) and built by Formosa Boat Building Co. Ltd. starting in 1982.

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)

The SPINDRIFT 46 was built by Formosa Yachts using the same molds that built the FORMOSA 46. (1980-1984). R. Hillier, of Brisbane Australia, oversaw the building of this yacht which was to be sold in the US for Bristol yachts of Newport Beach CA. For the Australian market, they were called the HILLIER/PETERSON 46. Hillier ran afoul of designer Doug Peterson who filed a law suit. Hillier died and the suit was shelved. Thanks to SPINDRIFT 46 owner, Mark Warburton, kp44.org owner Jeff, and achivist Graham Court.

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Fin with rudder on skeg

Specifications FORMOSA 46

Home - Sailboat Listings 1978 - 45.00 ft / 13.72 m - Doug Peterson (unauthorized) - Formosa Yachts

FORMOSA 46 Sailboat Data

Hull Type: Fin with rudder on skeg Rigging Type: Cutter LOA: 45.00 ft / 13.72 m LWL: 39.58 ft / 12.06 m S.A. (reported): 911.00 ft² / 84.63 m² Beam: 12.92 ft / 3.94 m Displacement: 33,000.00 lb / 14,969 kg Ballast: 10,000.00 lb / 4,536 kg Max Draft: 6.46 ft / 1.97 m Construction: FG First Built: 1978 Builder: Formosa Yachts Designer: Doug Peterson (unauthorized)

Information from  sailboatdata.com .

Hull Speed: 8.43 kn