She sits at the muscular end of the moderate-displacement range. Her figures describe a stiff, settled hull rather than a featherweight, while a motion-comfort value of 22.7 supports that picture.
Design and Construction
The Wasa 360 displaces 11,025 pounds, including 4,620 pounds of lead ballast in a fin keel. Her ballast-to-displacement ratio is 41.9, and her length-to-beam figure is 3.40 on a beam of 10.6 feet.
Both the hull and deck are solid fiberglass, and the keel is lead. It’s a straightforward, repairable structure with no exotic core to rot. The solid-glass hull also means that impact damage is local rather than a core-delamination event.
A capsize-screening value of 1.92 and a displacement-length ratio of 189—which places her among moderate racers—tell the same story from different angles. This is a boat designed to carry her rig and crew through weather rather than sprint in it.
The theoretical hull speed is 7.3 knots. An immersion rate of about 1,105 pounds per inch means the boat sits heavily and changes trim slowly as the load varies. Draft ranges from 6.40 to 6.70 feet, depending on loading, so she’s a major-marina-only vessel and won’t tuck into the shallow corners accessible to a centerboarder.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The 360 carries a fractional sloop rig and, by the numbers, more sail plan than two-thirds of comparable boats. She is slightly overrigged by the reference database’s measure.
With the ISO reference sail, her sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 19.0. Hoist a 135-percent genoa and it rises to 22.1, a meaningful increase that rewards the larger headsail in breeze that the fractional main alone would leave short. A Relative Speed Performance index of 76 and her moderate-racer classification suggest that she’s quick for her weight without being twitchy.
The standing and running rigging are generously sized. All three halyards are 36.2 meters of 12 mm line; the mainsheet is 27.8 meters of 14 mm line; and the genoa sheets are 11.1 meters of 14 mm line. The rig was specified with cruising longevity in mind rather than stripped for the start line. At the same time, the slightly overrigged sail plan places higher loads on the chainplates and deck hardware than a lightly canvased 36-footer would.
Accommodations
A galley and toilet facility were standard equipment on the 360, providing the bare bones of coastal and offshore living. The interior must be judged on the water, not on paper. She was conceived as a proper cruising yacht with the systems to support that role, not as a daysailing racer with a chemical toilet wedged under the V-berth.
Ownership and Refit Considerations
With fewer than 100 boats built and production shared among more than one yard, the Wasa 360 belongs to a small class whose owners tend to keep their boats.
Her 35-square-meter wetted surface—376 square feet—is a practical ownership figure. That’s the bottom area you’ll pay to haul, blast, and paint on whatever cycle your local water demands.
The estimated 30-horsepower diesel and single drivetrain are modest for an 11,000-pound boat. Unless documentation shows otherwise, a buyer should treat the engine as a long-service item rather than a recent upgrade.
The Verdict
The Wasa 360 is a thoughtfully proportioned Swedish cruiser-racer: heavy enough to be comfortable and safe, strongly rigged, and built in solid fiberglass that ages predictably. She isn’t a shallow-draft explorer or a featherweight racer, but within her draft envelope she’s a capable, well-found 36-footer from a small and serious class, rigged strongly enough to drive her through.
Pros
- Stiff, comfortable hull with a strong ballast ratio and documented motion-comfort figure
- Solid fiberglass construction and a lead fin keel, with no exotic core to rot
- Slightly overrigged fractional sloop that rewards a 135-percent genoa with a meaningful performance gain
- Generously sized halyards and sheets suited to a durable cruising rig
Cons
- Deep draft of 6.4–6.7 feet restricts her to major marinas
- Fewer than 100 built across multiple yards, with sparse class support and parts commonality
- Estimated diesel power is modest for the displacement
