Class CHeavy displacementCruiser/Racer

Bermuda 40

HINCKLEY · Bill Tripp · 1968

Updated

The Bermuda 40 is a 12.33 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Bill Tripp and built by HINCKLEY, first launched in 1968. It races in Class C.

Bermuda 40 - Bill Tripp - HINCKLEYP 13.18 mLOA 12.33 m

Length

12.33 m

40′ 5″

Beam

3.60 m

Draft

2.27 m

Displacement

9.1 t

Sail area

96 m²

This design does not carry a Race Edge. The speeds below still come from measured boats.

On the podium

Where a Bermuda 40 finishes when she goes racing.

Not enough data yet to show how this design finishes. It has not been found in the race results we have collected so far.

Recent regattas

The latest events where a Bermuda 40 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.

No regattas found yet.

Raced one we are missing?

Report a regatta

Round the buoys, or offshore

A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.

Round the buoys

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Not enough data yet: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.

Offshore & coastal

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Not enough data yet: no races over 10 NM carry a published distance.

Who she races against

The designs a Bermuda 40 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.

Not enough data yet to say who this design races against. No result we have collected puts it on the water beside another design we track.

Speed at every angle

The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.

36930°60°90°120°150°WIND8.4

Upwind VMG

5.04

39°

Beam reach

7.73

90°

Broad reach

8.39

135°

Downwind VMG

7.42

170°

Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.

Where it wins and where it pays

Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.

It does its best work before the breeze fills in. In the light it does more than its numbers promise, and gives some of that back when the wind arrives.

Where it gains

Its best ground is off the wind when the breeze is soft, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage on the beat as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.

Where it pays

It falls short cracked off in a strong breeze, giving away time it never gets back. That is weight that has to be driven rather than released.

Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.

True wind
Upwind+0.14 kn
Beam reach+0.10 kn
Broad reach+0.16 kn
Downwind+0.06 kn

Full width is 0.4 kn either way.

At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.

How fast is a Bermuda 40

Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.

Angle6 kn10 kn14 kn20 kn
Beat VMG3.334.474.915.04
52°4.986.396.897.03
60°5.256.557.037.19
75°5.516.747.217.45
90°5.486.897.377.73
110°5.557.107.618.10
120°5.447.067.688.38
135°4.946.777.548.39
150°4.226.067.147.98
Run VMG3.665.256.377.42

How they are set up

The range each sail spans across the fleet.

Mainsail36 m² – 38 m²
Headsail47 m² – 59 m²
Gennaker106 m² – 120 m²

Roughly half carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 620 kg.

Rigging

Bermuda 40 rig and sail dimensions

A Bermuda 40 carries 13.18 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.49 m boom, a forestay 15.15 m above the deck and a 5.27 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 3 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.

Rig

Mainsail hoistP13.18 m12.11 – 13.18
Boom lengthE4.49 m4.49 – 5.05
Forestay heightIG15.15 m13.61 – 15.15
Fore triangle baseJ5.28 m4.73 – 5.28
Spinnaker hoistISP15.06 m13.61 – 15.06
BowspritTPS5.27 m5.27 – 5.90
Boom above deckBAS1.48 m1.36 – 1.48

Sails

Mainsail36.4 m²36.4 – 37.7
Headsail59.4 m²47.0 – 59.4
Gennaker120.0 m²105.8 – 120.0

The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 106 to 120 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.