Design and Construction
Murray Ross laid down the Ross 40 as a solid-fiberglass hull with a solid fiberglass deck, a straightforward composite approach that avoids the complications of cored structure. The ballast ratio sits at 42 percent, a figure higher than two-thirds of comparable sailboat designs, and the lead on a fin keel gives her a draft that varies between roughly 7 and 7.3 feet depending on load anchor. Her length-to-beam ratio of 3.39 makes her slimmer than 58 percent of similar designs, and the displacement-length ratio of 106 places her among the "light racers" — 96 percent of similar designs are heavier. The immersion rate of about 1,485 pounds per inch speaks to a hull that responds visibly to added gear or crew.
Rig and Sail Plan
The boat is built with a fractional sloop rig and a reference sail area of 786 square feet for mainsail and jib. The sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 26.1 with the standard reference sail and rises to 29.6 with a 135 percent genoa, a configuration that makes her faster in light wind than every similar design in the comparison set. The trade-off is that she carries more rig than 100 percent of those designs and is, by the same measure, significantly overrigged anchor. Halyard and sheet specifications are generous: mainsail, jib, and spinnaker halyards all run 130.5 feet at a half-inch diameter, while sheets for jib, genoa, and mainsheet run 40.7 to 101.7 feet at 0.55 inch, with Cunningham, kicking strap, and clew outhaul at 12 mm. The wetted surface of the bottom is about 505 square feet.
Performance Profile
The theoretical hull speed reaches 8.0 knots, consistent with her waterline. The capsize screening value is 2.19, which by the standard test would exclude her from ocean-race acceptance, a meaningful limit for a buyer eyeing offshore certification. Her Motion Comfort Ratio is 16.0 — the Ross 40 is built to sail briskly, not to smooth out a chop. The high ballast ratio and slim beam help her stand up to canvas, but the light displacement and low comfort ranking mark her as a performance-oriented coastal and moderate-weather cruiser rather than a heavy-displacement passage maker.
The Verdict
The Ross 40 is a Murray Ross design from the early 1980s that prioritizes speed and stiffness through a high ballast ratio, light displacement, and an overrigged fractional sloop. She will outrun nearly every peer in light air but sacrifices motion comfort and offshore-race eligibility to do so. A shopper should weigh that performance bias against their own cruising grounds and crew tolerance for a lively hull.
Pros
- Faster in light wind than 100 percent of similar designs via SA/D of 26.1 to 29.6
- Ballast ratio of 42 percent exceeds 66 percent of comparable designs
- Slim 3.39 length-to-beam ratio and light-racer DL classification aid acceleration
Cons
- Capsize screening value of 2.19 bars ocean-race acceptance
- Motion Comfort Ratio more comfortable than only 4 percent of similar designs
- Significantly overrigged relative to peer sail plans
