Albin Ballad 30 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Albin Marin had a reputation for quality construction, and the Ballad was strongly built in Sweden. Below the waterline the hull carries a broad, swept-back fin keel with a large, skeg-hung semi-elliptical rudder—a combination Practical Sailor and a separate review both describe as advanced for its time. Lead ballast of 3,417 lb is encapsulated in the fiberglass keel, so there are no keel bolts to loosen or leak. The boat is fairly light for its era and class at 7,275 lb displacement, and a ballast-to-displacement ratio of 46.97 suggests a stiff boat. Enhancing that stiffness is a slightly flaring knuckle-shaped hull profile amidships just above the waterline, which also widens the beam to 9.71 ft. Hull laminate began with fiberglass mat and two layers of woven roving, with thicknesses from 5/16 in. above the waterline to 3/8 in. below and as much as 15/16 in. in the keel’s lower extremities. Decks use a sandwich core of thin skins around 9/16 in. of divinycell, and the hull-deck joint is a butyl gasket with more than 130 stainless bolts spaced 5.1 in. apart. Plywood bulkheads were bolted to a molded GRP web rather than glassed to the hull sides.

Rig and Handling

The Ballad is an IOR masthead sloop with a keel-stepped aluminum mast and a small mainsail paired to a massive 150% overlapping genoa—the 472.54 sq ft sail plan splits into a 149 sq ft main and a 346.5 sq ft genoa. The main originally rolled onto a round, roller-reefing boom worked by a crank. With the mast supported by eight ¼-in stainless stays, and spars supplied by Ambau or Proctor through 1978 then Selden, the rig is robust, but a review notes the big genoa needs powerful winches or strapping crew, and roller-reefing is essential. Owners report the boat is very nimble and steers with a tiller. The slim hull is well balanced and easily driven, with a surprisingly easy motion in a seaway, though she can be wet upwind in a chop and a handful downwind if overcanvassed. Lower freeboard keeps you closer to the water.

Accommodations

Sleek deck lines sacrifice headroom below: there is 6 ft 2 in at the companionway, dropping to 5 ft 6 in at the salon front and 4 ft 10 in in the forward compartment. The salon’s four fixed windows give good light, but original ventilation was limited to the forward hatch, companionway, and passive vents. Interiors are basic, with fiberglass soles and mahogany plywood bulkheads, berths, nav table, and locker. The port berth runs 6 ft 6 in, starboard 6 ft 2 in, and a separate review counts six berths in two cabins including two awkward pilot berths. Galleys combined an ice box, small sink with fresh and seawater foot pumps, and a two-burner top; later some got a gimbaled stove/oven, but there was no propane locker or refrigeration provision. A two-leg split-fold dining table bisected the salon but was heavy and hard to stow. The head closet was a tight two-foot space with manual toilet and slide-out sink; holding tanks were not standard.

Known Issues

Early hulls from 1972 through early 1974 carry a mild steel mast truss under the cabin sole atop the keel ballast, bearing mast and stay tension and mostly encased in polyester resin. Nearly a score of these trusses have rusted and failed, in some cases loosening masts and rarely splitting the keel’s leading edge; almost all AB Survey problems trace to 1972–73 boats under hull #200. Albin switched to galvanized trusses in early 1974. A separate review warns that deck gear and spars, if original, should be treated with caution given most Ballads’ hard racing background and may still show bruises. There is no bow anchor locker.

Refits and Ownership

Engine progression ran from the 10-hp Volvo Penta MD6A (1971–75) to MD6B same hp (1976–77), then 13-hp MD7A (1977–78) and 17-hp MD7B (1979–82); as many as 25 post-bankruptcy boats built under contract mostly in Denmark usually took the 18-hp Volvo 2002. Hundreds of owners have repowered into 16–21 hp diesel inboards. The Ballad remains sought after as a sporty family cruiser and cost-effective club racer.

The Verdict

The Albin Ballad 30 is a well-built, stiff, and nimble small racer-cruiser whose encapsulated lead ballast and robust rig suit coastal passage-making, though early-truss and original-deck-gear caveats demand survey care on pre-1974 hulls.

Pros