Design and Construction
Tripp's early-nineties design pairs a solid fiberglass hull with a lead bulb fin keel and a spade rudder. The 9-foot draft—variably quoted at 8.99 to 9.29 feet depending on load—means she can only settle into major marinas, a real constraint for shallow-water cruisers but typical of a performance-oriented 47. The 61 square meters of wetted surface and the 330 kg/cm (1,848 lb/inch) immersion rate describe a hull that sits with authority and responds predictably to added load. Her capsize screening value of 2.06 is the one figure that tempers bluewater ambition: that number is what bars her from sanctioned ocean racing, a hard limit written into the rating rather than a reflection of poor construction.
Rig and Sail Plan
Buyers will find more than one rig on the used fleet. The boat was offered with either a fractional or a masthead sloop, and the data shows her carrying more rig than only 42 percent of similar designs—slightly underrigged in the comparative sense. Where she earns her reputation is upwind light-air speed: with the ISO reference sail her sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 26.7, rising to 30.3 with a 135 percent genoa, and that metric places her faster than every comparable design in light wind. The fractional rig runs 48.1-meter halyards at 14 mm, while the masthead version shortens those to 43.8 meters; sheets and controls are sized consistently across both, with 16 mm sheets and 14 mm cunninghams and outhauls. The calculated maximum speed of 7.3 knots sits below the theoretical 8.3-knot displacement hull speed, the gap a reminder that the rating ceiling is rarely the practical one.
Performance Character
The Motion Comfort Ratio of 21.4 is honestly modest—the figure shows her more comfortable than just 10 percent of similar designs, so this is a lively, athletic hull rather than a soft-riding passagemaker. The light-racer displacement profile and high ballast ratio explain the trade: she is built to stand up and drive, not to mute every sea. Her theoretical 8.3-knot top end and 7.3-knot calculated max describe a boat that rewards tuned sail trim and clean underwater shape more than brute ballast.
Known Limitations
The capsize screening value remains the headline caveat. At 2.06 the boat falls outside the accepted window for ocean racing sanction, which is a rating threshold rather than a structural verdict but should inform any buyer weighing serious offshore circuits. The comfort ratio and underrigged comparative standing round out the picture: this is a performance cruiser with a performance cruiser's edges.
Ownership Notes
The two-rig option means any survey or re-rig decision should start from identifying which mast plan a given hull carries, since halyard lengths and control geometries differ by several meters between fractional and masthead versions. The deep bulb keel and 9-foot draft dictate a marina profile—owners should confirm berth depth before committing to a home port. Beyond these, the available record shows no structural faults or recurring defects, so the used-boat conversation properly begins with a hull-by-hull survey.
The Verdict
The Tripp 47 is a distinctly performance-minded 47-foot cruiser-racer: deeply ballasted, lightly built for her length, and genuinely quick in light airs where most contemporaries wallow. She is not a plush passage boat, and her rating profile closes the door on sanctioned ocean racing, but within those bounds she is a well-defined, purposeful design from a recognized early-nineties Tripp-Carroll collaboration.
Pros
- Ballast ratio of 51 percent, higher than 98 percent of similar designs
- Sail-area-to-displacement up to 30.3 with 135% genoa—fastest in light wind among peers
- Offered in fractional or masthead rig to suit owner preference
Cons
- Capsize screening value of 2.06 excludes her from ocean racing sanction
- Motion Comfort Ratio places her above only 10 percent of similar designs
- 9-foot draft limits her to major marinas
