Design and Construction
The Citation's fiberglass hull carries the chief practical virtue of the material: only minimal upkeep through a sailing season. At a length-to-beam ratio of 3.35 she is slimmer than 54 percent of comparable designs, and her displacement-length ratio of 256 places her among what reviewers term "moderate racers," with half of all similar designs rated heavier. Ted Irwin clearly chose a slightly more speedy hull design rather than a sluggish coastal tub. The wetted surface runs about 387 square feet, and the immersion rate of 1,322 pounds per inch gives a tangible sense of how she loads.
Keel and Performance Profile
Buyers could specify different keel alternatives. The fin keel is the most common and delivers splendid maneuverability, though it surrenders some directional stability to a long-keel form. A stub/centerboard version pairs a fixed stub with a retractable board, letting the boat gunkhole into shallow marinas at a draft of just 4.27 to 4.57 feet depending on load. Her capsize screening value of 1.88 would, by that formula alone, admit her to ocean racing, and the Motion Comfort Ratio of 28.1 beats 42 percent of similar sailboats for ride quality. Theoretical hull speed is 7.5 knots.
Rig and Sail Handling
The Citation is a masthead sloop, a rig prized for simplicity and for carrying a given sail area lower than a fractional rig, which reduces heeling moment. With the ISO reference sail her sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 17.6, rising to 21.0 with a 135 percent genoa; that spread makes her quicker than 54 percent of similar designs in light wind. The standing and running rigging dimensions are generous for the size: all three halyards run 114.3 feet at half-inch diameter, sheets run 40.8 feet at 0.55 inch, and the mainsheet is a 102-foot, 0.55-inch line.
Accommodations and Layout
The Citation is a large sailboat built for cruising, with 90-gallon water and 40-gallon fuel capacities that speak to extended coastal use rather than weekend racing only. The stub/centerboard keel option broadens where she can lie alongside at low draft.
The Verdict
The Irwin 40 Citation is a thoughtfully proportioned late-seventies design that balances a moderately racy, slender hull with genuine cruising tankage and a keel choice for either maneuverability or shoal draft. She is not a blue-water specialist by rig alone, but her numbers place her competently among similar vessels.
Pros
- Slender, moderately racy hull quicker than half of comparable designs in light air
- Fin keel for maneuverability or stub/centerboard for 4.3-foot shoal draft
- Low-maintenance fiberglass hull with 90-gallon water capacity
Cons
- Fin keel gives less directional stability than a long keel
- Motion Comfort Ratio better than only 42 percent of similar designs
