Donovan GP 26
WRace Boats · Jim Donovan · 2011
Updated
The Donovan GP 26 is a 7.92 m planing racing yacht designed by Jim Donovan and built by WRace Boats, first launched in 2011. It races in Sportboat.
Length
7.92 m
26′ 0″
Beam
2.54 m
Draft
1.88 m
Displacement
1.1 t
Sail area
40 m²
On the podium
Where a Donovan GP 26 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
21%
of 14 starts by 2 boats
Wins
7%
Read from 14 starts by 2 boats between 2021 and 2024, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Donovan GP 26 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
ORC Sportboat European Championship2024
Sportboat European Championship2021
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound 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
23%
of these races end on the podium
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 1 race over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a Donovan GP 26 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Corsa 915 (6 meetings), Farr 280 (6 meetings), Cheese 6.5 (6 meetings), First Class 7.5 (6 meetings), Skippi 650 (6 meetings), Peterson 25 (6 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Donovan GP 26 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
4.98
38°
Beam reach
9.50
90°
Broad reach
13.12
135°
Downwind VMG
10.75
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.
The stronger it blows, the better this design looks. On a windy coastal course it is in its element; on a light-air windward-leeward it has to be sailed well to hold on.
Where it gains
Its best ground is downwind once it pipes up, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage on a broad reach as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short upwind when it blows, giving away time it never gets back. That is a hull that wants to get up and go, and needs pressure to do it.
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.
Full width is 3.6 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.
How fast is a Donovan GP 26
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.42 | 4.63 | 4.89 | 4.98 |
| 52° | 5.21 | 6.64 | 6.99 | 7.21 |
| 60° | 5.47 | 6.88 | 7.36 | 7.66 |
| 75° | 5.66 | 7.12 | 7.96 | 8.50 |
| 90° | 5.79 | 7.17 | 8.43 | 9.50 |
| 110° | 5.95 | 7.79 | 8.95 | 10.50 |
| 120° | 5.83 | 7.87 | 9.53 | 11.34 |
| 135° | 5.22 | 7.35 | 9.53 | 13.12 |
| 150° | 4.40 | 6.49 | 8.21 | 12.41 |
| Run VMG | 3.81 | 5.62 | 7.11 | 10.75 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Most run a fixed propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 430 kg.
Rigging
Donovan GP 26 rig and sail dimensions
A Donovan GP 26 carries 9.89 m of mainsail hoist on a 3.85 m boom, a forestay 9.30 m above the deck and a 4.87 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 56 to 80 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.