OVNI 490

Name: OVNI 490
Brand: Alubat

In production

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OVNI-490-plan — Alubat

Design

Designer: Mortain/Mavrikios and CBA

Summary

Sailing MonohullSailCE A

Length overall: 52.3 ft
Beam: 15.7 ft
Draft: 3.3–10.2 ft
Air draft: 71.5 ft
Displacement: 41,888 lb
Sail area (upwind): 1,389 ft²
Cabins: 3

* A standard reference image, not the actual boat — shown to help visualise this model's published dimensions.

Best Suited For

Bluewater Cruising
From the published figures: CE Category A · LOA 15.95 m · fresh water 600 L
Liveaboard
From the published figures: LOA 15.95 m · 3 cabins · fresh water 600 L

Tags are derived from certified class, length, sail area, accommodation and tankage using the criteria described on the Sources page; an editor may add or remove one.

Sailing Ratios

Classic yacht-design ratios worked out from the builder's published figures, each shown against the bands designers read it by.

Sail area / displacement

How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.

18.4· Cruiser

How it is worked out

sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔

published upwind sail area

Displacement / length

How heavy the boat is for its waterline length. Lower is lighter and quicker; higher is steadier and roomier.

194· Moderate

How it is worked out

displacement (long tons) ÷ (0.01 × waterline length in ft)³

Ballast ratio

The share of the weight carried in the keel — a rough guide to stiffness, though how deep that weight sits matters as much.

not published: ballast

How it is worked out

ballast ÷ displacement × 100

Comfort ratio

Ted Brewer's measure of how gently a boat moves in a seaway. Higher means a slower, easier motion.

34.2· Moderate offshore

How it is worked out

displacement (lb) ÷ (0.65 × (0.7 × LWL + 0.3 × LOA) × beam^1.333), lengths in ft

Capsize screening

A guide from the inquiry after the 1979 Fastnet race: below 2 was taken as suited to ocean passages. It ignores hull shape and where the ballast sits.

1.81· Below 2

How it is worked out

beam (ft) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅓

Hull speed

Roughly the speed a displacement hull reaches before it has to climb its own bow wave.

9.1 kn

How it is worked out

1.34 × √(waterline length in ft), in knots

Most builders publish a light displacement. The ratios were defined on a loaded boat, so every boat here reads a little lighter than a surveyor's figure would — all alike, which keeps them comparable.

Tanks

What the builder publishes about how fast, how strong and how much the boat carries.

Fuel and water on one scale: a tank twice the height holds twice as much.

Fuel264 gal
Water159 gal

Design Category

Certified CE design category A (Ocean): the wind and waves the EU Recreational Craft Directive says this boat is designed to take.

D
Sheltered waters
Wind
up to Beaufort 4
Waves
up to 0.3 m
C
Inshore
Wind
up to Beaufort 6
Waves
up to 2 m
B
Offshore
Wind
up to Beaufort 8
Waves
up to 4 m
AThis boat
Ocean
Wind
above Beaufort 8
Waves
above 4 m

Design limits set by the EU Recreational Craft Directive (2013/53/EU), in significant wave height. A category covers the conditions of those below it. It is the limit the boat was designed to, not a promise that it is safe in any conditions within it — that judgement stays with the skipper.

Dimensions

LOA: 52.3 ft (15.95 m)
Hull length: 48.9 ft (14.9 m)
LWL: 45.9 ft (13.98 m)
Beam: 15.7 ft (4.8 m)
Draft (min): 3.3 ft (1 m)
Draft (max): 10.2 ft (3.1 m)
Air draft: 71.5 ft (21.8 m)
Displacement: 41,888 lb (19,000 kg)
Ballast: —
Cabins: 3
Heads: —
Berths: —

Sail Plan

Main sail: 700 ft² (65 m²)
Jib: 689 ft² (64 m²)
Genoa: —
Sail area: 1,389 ft² (129 m²)
Downwind sail area: —
Rig type: Cutter

Engine and Tanks

Engine: 50 hp
Engine count: 2
Engine manufacturer: —
Propulsion type: shaft drive
Fuel capacity: 264 gal (1,000 L)
Fresh water capacity: 159 gal (600 L)
Black water capacity: 15 gal (55 L)

Construction

Mast material: —
Hull material: Aluminium
Deck material: —
Keel type: lifting centreboard
Rudder type: —
Steering wheels: —

Builder's Own Figures

Fuel: 2×500 l
Loaded displacement: 22 500 kg
Engine: 2 x 50HP shaft drive
Keel weight: 480 kg
Mainsail: 65 m2
Draft: centreboard up 1 m / down 3,10 m
Fresh water: 2×300 l
Solent: 64 m2
Upwind sail area: 129 m2
Displacement basis: light displacement (page figure)

Figures read fromalubat.com/the-range/ovni-490/· Specificationsread 9/13/2026

Videos

External content

Films of this model from the builder's official YouTube channel (ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL”). They are the builder's own; the figures above are the reference.

OVNI 490 nouveau millésime en alu brut - OVNI 490 raw aluminum
ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL” · 2/26/2026
OVNI 490 échouage - OVNI 490 beaching
ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL” · 11/7/2025
OVNI 490 : Explication du système de réglage de la GV / OVNI 490: Mainsail Trimming System Explained
ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL” · 9/13/2025
OVNI 490 : Visite guidée du nouveau voilier Alubat - Guided tour of the new Alubat sailboat
ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL” · 7/30/2025
OVNI 490 Essai voiles / sailtest
ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL” · 6/23/2025
OVNI 490 : Mise à l'eau - Launching
ALUBAT “ALUBAT CHANTIER NAVAL” · 6/18/2025

Videos whose title names the OVNI 490, from the channel the builder's site links; last checked 9/30/2026. Playing one loads YouTube's player, which may set cookies.

About Alubat

Semi-custom

French builder of all-aluminium lifting-keel blue-water yachts — the OVNI range (370, 430, 490, 650) and the CIGALE 15 QR — founded in 1973 at Les Sables-d'Olonne.

The Alubat yard was founded in 1973 at Les Sables-d'Olonne in the Vendée. In 1978 it launched the OVNI range -- aluminium centreboarders with hard chines -- which laid down the concept that still defines the marque; from 25 to 58 feet, 28 models have been developed in more than fifty years with naval architects Philippe Briand, Marc Lombard, Alain Mortain, Yiannis Mavrikios and the CBA studio of Alain Bechetoille, Jean-Pierre Brouns and Nina Karlseder, and the first OVNI 28 reached Switzerland in 1980. A new page opened in 1994 with the Cigale range, drawn by Jean-Marie Finot and Pascal Conq and later Marc Lombard, aluminium keelboats of the ultra-light-displacement type built for lightness and performance. In 2023 Luc Jurien, at the head of the yard since 2021, took it over with his team; the OVNI 490 joined the new-generation OVNIs in 2025 with a wheelhouse that changes the way of sailing, and for 2027 the Cigale line is renewed with the Finot-Conq Cigale 15 QR with lifting keel.

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