Sail area / displacement
How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.
- 19.5· Cruiser
How it is worked out
sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔
published upwind sail area
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t535ExtTransom — Tartan Yachts
Summary
Sailing MonohullSail
- Length overall
- 53.5 ft
- Beam
- 16.1 ft
- Draft
- 6.7 ft
- Air draft
- 80 ft
- Displacement
- 38,226 lb
- Sail area (upwind)
- 1,382 ft²
- Cabins
- 2–4
- Berths
- 6–10
* A standard reference image, not the actual boat — shown to help visualise this model's published dimensions.
Best Suited For
- Liveaboard
From the published figures: LOA 16.31 m · 4 cabins · 2 heads · fresh water 946 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.
Displacement / length
How heavy the boat is for its waterline length. Lower is lighter and quicker; higher is steadier and roomier.
- 170· Light
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.
- 37· Moderate
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.
- 29.9· Coastal
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.
- 1.91· 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.
- Fuel125 galWater250 gal
25 gal of water per berth
Dimensions
- LOA
- 53.5 ft (16.31 m)
- Hull length
- —
- LWL
- 46.5 ft (14.17 m)
- Beam
- 16.1 ft (4.9 m)
- Draft (min)
- 6.7 ft (2.03 m)
- Draft (max)
- —
- Air draft
- 80 ft (24.38 m)
- Displacement
- 38,226 lb (17,339 kg)
- Ballast
- 13,999 lb (6,350 kg)
- Cabins
- 2–4
- Heads
- 2
- Berths
- 6–10
Sail Plan
- Main sail
- —
- Jib
- —
- Genoa
- —
- Sail area
- 1,382 ft² (128.4 m²)
- Downwind sail area
- 1,463 ft² (135.9 m²)
- Rig type
- —
Engine and Tanks
- Engine
- 106 hp
- Engine count
- 1
- Engine manufacturer
- —
- Propulsion type
- saildrive
- Fuel capacity
- 125 gal (473 L)
- Fresh water capacity
- 250 gal (946 L)
- Black water capacity
- —
Construction
- Mast material
- —
- Hull material
- —
- Deck material
- —
- Keel type
- —
- Rudder type
- —
- Steering wheels
- —
Builder's Own Figures
- Auxiliary
- 106 hp diesel saildrive
- Downwind sail area basis
- main & reacher as printed
- Cabins as printed
- 2-4
- Unit basis
- converted from the page's feet-inches, pounds, US gallons and square feet (the site prints no metric figures)
- Keel basis
- stored draft, displacement and ballast are the 'Beavertail' keel
- Berths as printed
- 6-10
- Upwind sail area basis
- main & self-tacking jib as printed
Figures read fromtartanyachts.com/models/tartan-53/· Dimensions / Accommodations / Tankage / Sail Arearead 9/18/2026
Layouts & Drawings
4 drawings from the builder's page: general arrangement, sail plan, profile.
535accommodations2 — Tartan Yachts
535accommodations4 — Tartan Yachts
535accommodations3 — Tartan Yachts
535SailPlan — Tartan Yachts
About Tartan Yachts
Semi-custom
American builder of performance cruising sailboats from Painesville, Ohio — six vacuum-infused models from the all-new Tartan 27 to the 16.3-metre Tartan 53, all with self-tacking jibs, carbon rigs and a choice of deep-fin, Beavertail or keel-centreboard underbodies, built in low volume by Ohio craftsmen.
Visit brand pageThe Tartan Yachts Range
Every model Tartan Yachts publishes, by length — where this one sits in the range.
- Tartan 53· this model53.5 ft
- Tartan 4545.5 ft
- Tartan 4039.5 ft
- Tartan 3736.5 ft
- Tartan 3433.5 ft
- Tartan 2727.8 ft