Ranger 29

The Ranger 29 is a twenty-nine foot (9m) fiberglass production sailboat designed by Gary Mull in or around 1970.

Hull

The hull is constructed of a solid fiberglass laminate. The keel is molded as part of the hull and the ballast is poured in. The hull is a moderate displacement design. The rudder has a partial-depth skeg, with balance area below. This skeg is also molded into the hull. There is an interior liner dropped in to the boat before the deck is put on. The design weight of the Ranger is 6,400 lbs (2.9 tonnes).

The hull-deck joint is built in the normal method, with an inward-facing flange on the hull, glued and thru-bolted. The early boats had a teak toe-rail while boats built after 1973 have the more familiar perforated aluminum toe-rail.

Deck

The deck is constructed of fiberglass cored with plywood. This allowed the molded interior liner for the deck to serve as the inner skin. The vertical sections of the deck do not have this inner liner bonded to the outer deck.

Most Ranger 29's came with a Universal Atomic IV engine. This inboard gas-powered engine produced up to 25hp in some iterations, but in most applications is restricted in revolutions such that it only produces about 12hp. This is adequate to push the Ranger at Hull speed.

Rig

The rig is typical of its era. A deck-stepped aluminum mast (37' I measurement) with fore-and-aft lower shrouds. The single spreaders were originally spec'd as wood. The mast had an external T-track fitted to its aft side for the mainsail. It included two sheaves on the front and back of the mast, as well as a tang for attaching a fractional inner forestay. This inner forestay was included in some drawings of the boat, but was never supplied and there is no suitable attachment point included for the attachment of the bottom of such a stay. The boat was designed with boom-end sheeting in mind for the main, down to a traveller at the back of the cockpit. Some boats have since moved the traveller to the bridgedeck. Halyards were originally led to winches on the mast but many boats have upgraded this as well.

Interior

The interior layout consists of a V-berth forward, followed by a head to port with hanging locker outboard. A small galley and vanity is to starboard. Aft of the main bulkhead are two settees. The starboard one has a cutout through the main bulkhead to allow 6' (1.84m) of sleeping space. The port settee extends into the quarter berth which reaches back under the cockpit. A galley is to starboard, originally equipped with a sink, manual water pump, and two-burner alcohol stove. There is a small, poorly insulated icebox.

The water tank is located under the V-berth, with room for a holding tank as well. The fuel tank is strapped under the cockpit floor, above the engine.

Aft of the galley, there is a cockpit locker providing storage space.

The Ranger 29 has developed a reputation as an excellent club PHRF racer.Fact|date=December 2007 It generally rates as fast as 184 in some regions with a spinnaker, or as slow as 200 with the same sailplan depending on region. At 6,400 lbs, it likes a breeze, but can also be crippled somewhat by its limited draft of only 4'6", (1.4m) which means it has a little less righting moment than some of its competition.