The Surprise 25, often just called the Surprise, is a French
trailerable sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
. First built in 1977, it was designed by Michel Joubert of
Joubert Nivelt Design as a
one-design
One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a Handicapping, handicap system.
Motorsport
One-make racing ...
racer.
The Surprise 25 was followed in production by the larger
Grand Surprise in 1999.
Production
The design was built by
Archambault Boats of
Dangé-Saint-Romain and also by the
BG Race shipyard in
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany.
The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
between 1977 and 2017, with 1,550 boats completed, but it is now out of production. Archambault, which had been founded in 1967, went out of business in 2015. The BG Race shipyard, founded in 2013, built many designs for Archambault and went out of business in 2017.
Design
The Surprise 25 is a recreational
keelboat
A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...
, built predominantly of
fibreglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
. The hull is solid fibreglass and the deck is
balsa
''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as balsa, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma'', and is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the mallow family Malvaceae. The tree is fa ...
-cored fibreglass. It has a 7/8
fractional sloop rig with
aluminum
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
spars, a deck-stepped mast, wire
standing rigging
Standing rigging comprises the fixed lines, wires, or rods, which support each mast or bowsprit on a sailing vessel and reinforce those spars against wind loads transferred from the sails. This term is used in contrast to running rigging, w ...
and a single set of swept spreaders. The hull has a
raked stem
The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively.
Description
The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...
, a slightly
reverse transom
In some boats and ships, a transom is the aft transverse surface of the hull that forms the stern of a vessel. Historically, they are a development from the canoe stern (or "double-ender") wherein which both bow and stern are pointed.
Transom ...
with an inset, an internally mounted spade-type
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
controlled by a
tiller
A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...
with a "D"-handle extension. It was delivered with a choice of a fixed fin
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
, twin asymmetrical keels with bulb weights, or a
swing keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The laying of the keel is often the initial step in constru ...
. It displaces and carries of
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...
ballast.
The fin keel-equipped version of the boat has a draft of , the twin keel-equipped version of the boat has a draft of , while the swing keel-equipped version has a draft of with the keel extended and with it retracted, allowing ground transportation on a
trailer.
The boat is normally fitted with a small
outboard motor
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...
of up to for docking and manoeuvring.
The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a "V"-berth in the bow cabin and two straight settees in the main cabin. The main cabin headroom is .
For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a symmetrical
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...
of . It has a
hull speed
Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to- ...
of .
Operational history
The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the ''Aspro Surprise'' (''Association Des Propriétaires Surprise'', English:''Surprise Owners Association'').
See also
*
List of sailing boat types
The following is a partial list of sailboat types and sailing classes, including keelboats, dinghy, dinghies, and multihull (catamarans and trimarans).
Olympic classes
World Sailing Classes
Historically known as the IYRU (International Yacht ...
References
External links
Photo of a Surprise 25 with twin keels
{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide
Keelboats
1970s sailboat type designs
Sailing yachts
Trailer sailers
Sailboat type designs by Joubert-Nivelt
Sailboat types built by Archambault Boats
Sailboat types built by BG Race