BoatsKettenburg Marine 40

Kettenburg Marine 40

Masthead Sloop · Fin Keel · First built 1959

A 1959 masthead sloop with a 1.62-metre draft, offering a balanced displacement-to-ballast ratio for coastal cruising

Designed by Paul Kettenburg.

LOA
Beam
Draft (max)
Displacement
Ballast
Hull type
Fin Keel

See her sail

The Kettenburg Marine 40, on the water

The fleet's own footage — the truest look at how she really moves.

Footage from Salt & Tar

Is it for you?

Character

Where this design lands on the numbers a shopper trusts — read straight from her own ratios.

LivelySea-kindly

Her heavy displacement on a narrow beam gives 32 — a sea-kindly motion in a seaway.

Comfort ratio 32
CoastalBluewater

1.71 — just under the 2.0 offshore line; her beam is modest for her weight.

Capsize screening 1.71
LightHeavy

312 — heavy for her waterline, built to carry stores and ride steadily.

Displacement / length 312
EasygoingPowered-up

17.3 — moderate power for her weight; steady, all-round performance.

Sail area / displacement 17.3
TenderStiff

35% of her weight is ballast — moderately stiff, a middle-of-the-road stability.

Ballast 35%

Built heavy and sea-kindly — a boat made to cross oceans and forgive a rough night.

  • Draws less than ~79% of boats her size on file
  • Narrower than ~84% of boats her size on file

Compared with 2845 boats of the same type within a quarter of her length.

What the fleet has seen

The Kettenburg Marine 40, as the fleet has seen it

Derived from the videos the fleet has analysed of this model. ▶ marks open the moment aboard.

The Kettenburg Marine 40 is a Paul Kettenburg-designed masthead sloop with a fin keel, built by Kettenburg Marine and Kettenburg Boats from 1959 to the present.22:24 It measures 12.1 meters LOA, with a 3.1-meter beam, 1.6-meter draft, and 6463 kg displacement. Aboard *Salt & Tar*, Garrett and Ruth acquired a 1959 Kettenburg Marine 40 named *Bravada* in Napa, after their previous wooden boat, a John Hanna Carol ketch named *Baltia*, proved to have extensive rot. *Bravada* required a full transom rebuild, which Garrett completed in 30 days.23:33 Upon relaunch, *Bravada*'s thin mahogany planking leaked heavily, necessitating continuous pumping.31:09

The living fleet

Sailed by the fleet

Where the fleet has filmed this boat.

Seen once across one channel of the fleet.

Basemap © Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Who's been looking

Market signal

Crews the fleet has filmed weighing this model up — no sale seen, and no asking price.

1channel weighed buying one

  • Purchased from a dock neighbor in Napa Valley Marina for the same price Baltia sold for

    from Salt & Tarseen December 202349:21

From the fleet's own footage — our observed signal, not broker listings.

The record

Full specifications

The complete reference set — tap any figure to switch between metric and imperial.

Dimensions
Weights
Ballast / displacement
35.1%
Rig & sail area
Rig
Masthead Sloop
Ratios
SA / displacement
17.3
Displacement / length
311.6
Comfort ratio
31.6
Capsize screening
1.71
Hull speed
7.0 kn
Pounds / inch immersion
1009
Hull
Hull type
Fin Keel
Construction
Mahogany planked on Oak
Ballast type
Lead
Production
Years built
First built 1959
Units built
40
Designer
Paul Kettenburg
Builder
Kettenburg Marine

Boats like this, on the water

More boats like her, on the water

Comparable boats the fleet has on camera: same type, within a quarter of her length. Open the boat, or watch the video — a timestamp means she only appears in passing.

Colvic Craft Victor 4012.19 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA John A. Bennett-designed masthead ketch also known as the Blackwater 40, built for steady, comfortable passage-making
Would you buy this crazy Sailboat ? Here we go again 😅1:31from Reversing Entropy
Hans Christian Christina 4012.14 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA Scott Sprague-designed cutter with a skeg-hung rudder, built for steady, comfortable blue-water passages
First Sail on my New 40 foot Boat10:28from Garrett’s Adventure
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40 DS12.19 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA charter-proven deck saloon cruiser featuring a spacious interior and a shallow-draft fin keel for coastal cruising
Jeanneau 40 DS - A Yacht Delivery from Menorca to Sardinia. She's now up for sale!1:00from Halcyon Yachts - International Yacht Delivery
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 4012.20 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA 12.2-metre masthead sloop with a high sail area-to-displacement ratio, designed for spirited performance cruising
Life Aboard Isn’t Always Smooth Sailing! Ep-205from Leading the Escapade
Najad Yachts 400/40512.20 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA Judel-Vrolijk designed cruiser featuring a stable fin keel and a refined hull shared across the 400 and 405 series
[OFF MARKET] Najad 405 (BRINDABELLA), with Alan McIlroy - Yacht for Sale - Berthon Internationalfrom Berthon International
J Boats J/12212.19 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA high-performance fractional sloop designed by Alan Johnstone, balancing a stiff 37% ballast ratio with a versatile interior
Lydia Mullan // Seamanship & the Sinking of Alliance4:29from 59° North Sailing

The family

Boats like this

Nearby designs by size, type, and era — worth a look alongside her.

Kettenburg Marine 43A 1963 masthead sloop with a fin keel and a heavy displacement-to-length ratio designed for stable, deep-water cruisingKettenburg Marine 38A slender, long-ended fractional sloop from Paul Kettenburg, built for classic performance between 1948 and 1959Kettenburg Marine 41A 1966 masthead sloop with a spade rudder, offering a light displacement-to-length ratio for responsive coastal sailingKettenburg Yachts 50A substantial 15-metre masthead sloop with a deep fin keel, built for offshore stability and classic cruising comfortKettenburg Marine PCA long-lived Pacific Coast One-Design fractional sloop commissioned for the San Diego Yacht Club with a slender 2-metre beam

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