Design and Construction
Harle’s design measures 29.4 feet overall, with a 24.8-foot waterline and a 10.2-foot beam. The hull is solid fiberglass. Sources differ on displacement, so an exact loaded weight isn’t stated here. The ballast ratio is about 44 percent, placing the boat firmly in cruising territory rather than at the featherweight end of the spectrum.
Chantier Mallard offered two iron fin keels. Depending on load, the deep keel draws 5.6 to 5.9 feet, while the shallow version draws 4.8 to 5.1 feet. Both allow the boat to slip into most marinas, and the shallow-draft variant can reach thinner water.
Wetted surface is about 312 square feet, while the immersion rate is roughly 935 pounds per inch. That means the boat settles predictably as stores and crew come aboard.
Rig and Handling
The masthead sloop rig carries 532 square feet of sail. A period data sheet lists the sail area as 48 square meters, consistent with a cruising boat intended for a short crew.
The jib and genoa sheets are 29.2 feet long and 3/8 inch in diameter. The mainsheet is 73 feet long, and the spinnaker sheet is 64.2 feet long; all are also listed as 10 mm in the period sail-handling specifications.
The theoretical hull speed for a displacement hull of this length is 6.9 knots. A length-to-beam ratio of 2.87 describes a moderately narrow hull that should track well without feeling pinched.
Accommodations and Tankage
Below, the standard arrangement has a single cabin, one head, and six berths. It’s a straightforward layout for a weekender or a couple’s coastal cruiser rather than a crowded charter boat. The builder described the Mallard 9 plainly as a cabin cruiser, and the berth count supports that purpose without pretense.
Tankage consists of 40 gallons of water and 13 gallons of fuel. That should be enough for a few days away from the dock, but it isn’t a passage-making tankage scheme.
Verdict
The Mallard 9 is a small, clearly defined Harle cruiser. Its two keel options and manageable sail plan make it an understandable used-boat proposition for coastal sailors who value a known quantity over novelty. It isn’t a performance boat, but its numbers describe a settled, predictable little ship.
Pros
- Two iron-keel drafts extend the boat’s cruising range from standard marinas to shallow harbors
- A 44 percent ballast ratio provides reassuring stability for a boat of this size
- Six berths in a single-cabin layout suit short-handed coastal cruising
Cons
- Modest 13-gallon fuel and 40-gallon water capacities limit time between replenishments
- Displacement figures differ among sources, leaving the exact loaded weight disputed
