Sail area / displacement
How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.
- 21.4· Performance
How it is worked out
sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔
mainsail + genoa, added up

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* A standard reference image, not the actual boat — shown to help visualise this model's published dimensions.
From the published figures: LOA 20.54 m · 4 cabins · fresh water 1150 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.
Classic yacht-design ratios worked out from the builder's published figures, each shown against the bands designers read it by.
How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.
sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔
mainsail + genoa, added up
How heavy the boat is for its waterline length. Lower is lighter and quicker; higher is steadier and roomier.
displacement (long tons) ÷ (0.01 × waterline length in ft)³
The share of the weight carried in the keel — a rough guide to stiffness, though how deep that weight sits matters as much.
ballast ÷ displacement × 100
Ted Brewer's measure of how gently a boat moves in a seaway. Higher means a slower, easier motion.
displacement (lb) ÷ (0.65 × (0.7 × LWL + 0.3 × LOA) × beam^1.333), lengths in ft
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.
beam (ft) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅓
Roughly the speed a displacement hull reaches before it has to climb its own bow wave.
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.
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.
Figures read fromcontestyachts.com/model/63csread 9/13/2026
Films of this model from the builder's official YouTube channel (Contest Yachts). They are the builder's own; the figures above are the reference.
Contest 63CS - launch with bimini hardtop
Contest 63CS - European Yacht of the Year 2025
Contest 63CS - Top moulding craned
Videos whose title names the Contest 63CS, from the channel the builder's site links; last checked 9/30/2026. Playing one loads YouTube's player, which may set cookies.
Semi-custom
Dutch builder of semi-custom centre-cockpit cruising yachts, founded in 1959 by Ed Conijn and still family-run in Medemblik.
Contest was founded in 1959 by Ed Conijn, who joined the 'Con' of the family name to 'test' for a name that travelled; the Gerard Luyten-designed Contest 25 was the first sailing cruiser and an immediate export success, with 300 sold into the USA alone. Dick Zaal drew the boats of the 1970s, from the Contest 27 Mk II to the 48, one of the largest series-built yachts of its day, and from 1972 every Contest has been certified by Lloyd's Register. Fritz Conijn took the helm from his father in 1974, adopted the wing keel just months after its America's Cup win, which the yard's timeline places in 1979, and in 1995 made Contest one of the first yards to refine vacuum resin injection; centre cockpits and wheel steering became the marque's signature. Arjen Conijn, the third generation, has led the family firm since 2003 -- the 62CS flagship, the first motor yacht (the 52MC of 2011), the 72CS, the 42CS that won European Yacht of the Year in 2014, and from 2016 the design partnership with judel/vrolijk & co that produced the 67CS, the 26-metre 85CS and the 55CS, European Yacht of the Year in 2021. The Medemblik yard passed 3,500 yachts at its sixtieth anniversary in 2019.
Visit brand pageEvery model Contest Yachts publishes, by length — where this one sits in the range.
Boats this boat's designers also drew, for other builders too. Credits are grouped only where the names clearly agree, however each builder spelled them; an unclear one is left out.