UFO 22
UFO BOAT · Umberto Felci · 1997
Updated
The UFO 22 is a 6.62 m planing racing yacht designed by Umberto Felci and built by UFO BOAT, first launched in 1997. It races in Sportboat. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 85% of the designs it races against.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 85% of the boats it races against.
5th of 28 in its class.
Not verified. On planing hulls this score has no match in the race results we hold: designs scoring the same win anywhere from one race in ten to seven in ten. Read it as what the measurements say, not as a ranking.
This design has been found in real race results — 13 starts across 4 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
6.62 m
21′ 9″
Beam
2.54 m
Draft
1.58 m
Displacement
0.7 t
Sail area
30 m²
On the podium
Where a UFO 22 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
8%
of 13 starts by 3 boats
Wins
8%
Read from 13 starts by 3 boats between 2022 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a UFO 22 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
54° Campionato Invernale Vela d'Altura del Golfo di Napoli2026- Vesuvio Race2025
- Trofeo Alta Velocità2024
- Sportboat European Championship2022
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
—
Not enough data yet: 9 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 3 races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a UFO 22 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
First Class 8 (7 meetings), Corsa 915 (6 meetings), Delta 84 (6 meetings), Platu 25 (6 meetings), Sb 20 (6 meetings), Viper 640 (6 meetings), Meteor (5 meetings), Dehler 38 (Judel/Vrolijk) (1 meeting), Dehler 29 (1 meeting), J/92 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the UFO 22 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
4.31
40°
Beam reach
8.05
90°
Broad reach
11.90
135°
Downwind VMG
10.09
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 needs pressure to show what it can do. 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 running deep once it pipes up, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, 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 UFO 22
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.28 | 4.25 | 4.35 | 4.31 |
| 52° | 4.94 | 5.98 | 6.16 | 6.24 |
| 60° | 5.17 | 6.17 | 6.44 | 6.58 |
| 75° | 5.32 | 6.37 | 6.89 | 7.22 |
| 90° | 5.51 | 6.40 | 7.32 | 8.05 |
| 110° | 5.60 | 6.96 | 7.81 | 8.94 |
| 120° | 5.49 | 7.04 | 8.32 | 9.98 |
| 135° | 5.01 | 6.61 | 8.41 | 11.90 |
| 150° | 4.26 | 5.97 | 7.27 | 11.66 |
| Run VMG | 3.69 | 5.19 | 6.30 | 10.09 |
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 290 kg.
Rigging
UFO 22 rig and sail dimensions
A UFO 22 carries 8.80 m of mainsail hoist on a 3.35 m boom, a forestay 8.20 m above the deck and a 3.88 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 18 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 50 to 56 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.