Surprise 25

Development
Designer	Michel Joubert of Joubert Nivelt Design
Location	France
Year	1977
No. built	1,550
Builder(s)	Archambault Boats
Role	one-design racer
Name	Surprise 25
Boat
Displacement	2,756 lb (1,250 kg)
Draft	5.25 ft (1.60 m)
Hull
Type	monohull
Construction	fibreglass
LOA	25.10 ft (7.65 m)
LWL	21.65 ft (6.60 m)
Beam	8.14 ft (2.48 m)
Engine type	Outboard motor 10 hp (7 kW) gasoline engine
Hull appendages
Keel/board type	fin keel
Ballast	1,102 lb (500 kg)
Rudder(s)	internally-mounted spade-type rudder
Rig
Rig type	Bermuda rig
I foretriangle height	26.41 ft (8.05 m)
J foretriangle base	6.00 ft (1.83 m)
P mainsail luff	29.53 ft (9.00 m)
E mainsail foot	10.83 ft (3.30 m)
Sails
Sailplan	fractional rigged sloop
Mainsail area	178 sq ft (16.5 m2)
Jib/genoa area	108 sq ft (10.0 m2)
Spinnaker area	484 sq ft (45.0 m2)
Other sails	Genoa: 151 sq ft (14.0 m2)
Upwind sail area	328 sq ft (30.5 m2)
Downwind sail area	662 sq ft (61.5 m2)
[edit on Wikidata]

The Surprise 25, often just called the Surprise, is a French trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Michel Joubert of Joubert Nivelt Design as a one-design racer and first built in 1977.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The Surprise 25 was followed in production by the larger 31.30 ft (9.54 m) Grand Surprise in 1999.^[7][8]

The design was built by Archambault Boats of Dangé-Saint-Romain and also by the BG Race shipyard in Saint-Malo in France between 1977 and 2017, with 1,550 boats completed, but it is now out of production. Archambault, which had been founded in 1967, went out of business in 2015. The BG Race shipyard, founded in 2013, built many designs for Archambault and went out of business in 2017.^{[1][2][3][4][9][10][11]}

The Surprise 25 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fibreglass. The hull is solid fibreglass and the deck is balsa-cored fibreglass. It has a 7/8 fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars, a deck-stepped mast, wire standing rigging and a single set of swept spreaders. The hull has a raked stem, a slightly reverse transom with an inset, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller with a "D"-handle extension. It was delivered with a choice of a fixed fin keel, twin asymmetrical keels with bulb weights, or a swing keel. It displaces 2,756 lb (1,250 kg) and carries 1,102 lb (500 kg) of cast iron ballast.^[1][2]

The fin keel-equipped version of the boat has a draft of 5.25 ft (1.60 m), the twin keel-equipped version of the boat has a draft of 3.33 ft (1.01 m), while the swing keel-equipped version has a draft of 5.17 ft (1.58 m) with the keel extended and 2.58 ft (0.79 m) with it retracted, allowing ground transportation on a trailer.^[1][2][3][4]

The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor of up to 10 hp (7 kW) for docking and manoeuvring.^[1][2]

The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a "V"-berth in the bow cabin and two straight settees in the main cabin. The main cabin headroom is 58 in (147 cm).^[2]

For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker of 484 sq ft (45.0 m²). It has a hull speed of 6.24 kn (11.56 km/h).^[2]

The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the Aspro Surprise (Association Des Propriétaires Surprise, English:Surprise Owners Association).^[12]

• List of sailing boat types

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Surprise 25.

• Photo of a Surprise 25 with twin keels