Design and Construction
The ETAP 26 measures 25.75 feet overall and 21.65 feet on the waterline, with a beam of 9.02 feet. She displaces 5,084 pounds, including 1,568 pounds of iron ballast. Her beamy 2.82 length-to-beam ratio places her among the roomier quarter of similar designs. The 29 percent ballast ratio sits above only about 12 percent of comparable boats—a modest figure explained by the lifting iron keel rather than a bolted lead shoe.
The solid-fibreglass hull and deck have wood trim, a raked stem, and a plumb transom. The builder’s double-skin, foam-injected construction made the marque unsinkable, and period testers noted that the boat is designed to right herself with the keel fully raised.
The defining structural feature is the lifting keel, a vertical-drop iron ballast foil. It extends to a draft of 5.25 feet and retracts to 3.11 feet, allowing the boat to be trailered with the keel up and kept in shallow marinas at a loaded draft of roughly 3.1 to 3.4 feet. An internally mounted spade rudder is controlled by a tiller.
Rig, Sailing, and Power
The ETAP 26 carries a deck-stepped 7/8 fractional rig with sweptback spreaders and an adjustable backstay. All sail controls lead aft to the cockpit.
Testers found her fast and commendably stiff under sail. She goes well to windward, with a tacking angle of 75 to 80 degrees, although she needs to be sailed fairly flat to avoid weather helm. Her theoretical displacement hull speed is about 6.2 knots.
The displacement-length ratio of 227 puts her among moderate racers, with half of comparable designs being heavier. Her Motion Comfort Ratio of 18.2 to 18.8 makes her more comfortable than half of similar designs. However, a capsize screening value of 2.08 would bar her from ocean racing.
Under a 10-horsepower inboard engine with saildrive, the calculated maximum speed under power is 4.8 knots. The fuel tank holds seven US gallons.
Accommodations
The cabin plan is unusual because the large lifting keel occupies the centerline below. There’s sleeping space for five: a double V-berth in the bow cabin, two straight settee quarter berths in the main saloon, and a drop-leaf table that converts one settee into a double. Testers counted four sea-going berths, or five at anchor.
The head is just aft of the bow cabin. An L-shaped galley sits to port, just forward of the companionway ladder, and includes a two-burner stove, an icebox, and a sink.
The chart table is at the forward end of the saloon to starboard. The navigator must work while sitting sideways—a quirk of the keel-dominated layout rather than a conventional amidships navigation station.
Keel-Lifting Mechanism
The manual keel-lifting mechanism is the design’s main service burden. Because the ballast is a large iron foil raised vertically through the hull, lifting it by hand requires a good 15 minutes of steady winching at the foot of the mast.
Some owners specified an electric servo motor to reduce that effort. On boats without it, however, the job is slow and physically demanding. The trunk and pivot hardware also deserve scrutiny for wear caused by repeated cycling.
The Verdict
The ETAP 26 is a clever small cruiser that trades offshore-race eligibility for trailerable flexibility and a genuinely roomy interior built around a lifting iron keel. She’s stiff under sail and goes competently to windward for her size. The manual keel lift, however, is a real ownership burden, and the sideways navigation station is an acquired taste.
Pros
- Retracting keel allows trailering and access to shallow water
- Beam provides unusual interior volume for a 26-foot design
- Stiff, quick handling, with sail controls led aft to the cockpit
Cons
- Manual keel lift requires roughly 15 minutes of winching at the foot of the mast
- Capsize screening value of 2.08 bars her from ocean racing
- Navigator must work sideways at the forward-saloon chart table
