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Review of GK 34


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The GK 34 is a sailboat designed by the French maritime architect Edward George Dubois in the early eighties. Only a few boats have been produced. The GK 34 is built by the British yard Westerly Marine Construction Ltd..

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.


Interior

The boat is equipped with 6+2 berths, a galley and 114.0 liter fresh water capacity.


Rig
Rig
Rig of GK 34 anno 1983. Sailing in Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong in January 2025.

Keel

Fin keel

The GK 34 is built with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.89 - 1.99 meter (6.20 - 6.50 ft) dependent on the load.


Engine

The fuel tank has a capacity of 57.0 liters (15 US gallons, 12 imperial gallons).

GK 34 may be equipped with an inboard Bukh DV20ME diesel engine at 20 hp (14 kW). Cruise speed is 6.0 knots.


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for GK 34 is 2.21, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for GK 34 is 3.00.

Slim Wide 69% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 69% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for GK 34 is 55%.

Low High 97% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 97% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 37m2 (398 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Jib sheet 10.3 m(33.7 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet 10.3 m(33.7 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 25.6 m(84.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet22.6 m(74.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for GK 34 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References