Design and Construction
The hull and deck are solid fibreglass. The Leisure 26 has a fin keel and transom-hung rudder, with iron ballast of about 2,535 pounds. Its beam is just under 9.8 feet, and loaded draft is around 4.75 feet. It is light on the water for its length.
A displacement-to-length ratio of 243 places the boat among moderate racers rather than heavy cruisers. Its 40 percent ballast ratio is higher than that of half of comparable designs. Combined with a capsize screening value of 2.12, the ballast gives the Leisure 26 a stability profile better suited to coastal and inland cruising than offshore racing. That screening value would bar it from ocean-race acceptance.
Rig, Handling, and Performance
The fin keel gives the Leisure 26 splendid maneuverability in close quarters, though it provides less directional stability on a steady course than a long keel would. The boat’s theoretical hull speed is about 6.4 knots, based on a 22.75-foot waterline.
The standing and running rigging follow typical fractional-sloop practice. Jib and genoa sheets are about 25.9 feet long and 3/8 inch in diameter. The mainsheet is a 64.7-foot line of the same diameter, while the 3/8-inch spinnaker sheets measure 56.9 feet. These dimensions indicate that the boat was set up for controllable light-air reaching as well as beating.
Its sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 17.00 is modest by racing standards but consistent with a cruiser that favors balance over outright acceleration. With a wetted surface of nearly 247 square feet, the Leisure 26 is neither a slug nor a skiff. The Leisure Owners Association describes it plainly as a high-performance cruiser, a label that suits a boat more spacious and better mannered than most peers of similar length.
Accommodation and Comfort
Below, the Leisure 26 has five berths. Its slender 2.63 length-to-beam proportion produces an interior roomier than 90 percent of similar sailboat designs—an unusual amount of volume in a 26-footer.
A Motion Comfort Ratio of 19.7 indicates that it rides more comfortably than 54 percent of comparable boats, a meaningful figure for a couple or small family cruising sheltered waters. Its immersion rate of about 780 pounds per inch suggests a hull that settles predictably under load rather than squatting abruptly.
Verdict
The Leisure 26 is a rare, well-proportioned small cruiser with Oyster-derived bones and Holman & Pye styling. It suits sailors who want generous volume and decent comfort in a 26-footer with a trailerable feel, without offshore-racing pretensions.
Pros
- Unusually roomy for its length, with five berths and top-decile space utilization
- Agile in marinas and anchorages thanks to the fin keel
- Comfortable motion relative to comparable designs
- Solid fibreglass hull and deck built from known moulds
Cons
- Fin keel sacrifices directional stability compared with a long keel
- Capsize screening value bars participation in ocean races
- Very few were built, so spares and comparable-data trails are thin
