Grand Surprise
Description
The Grand Surprise (also known as the Archambault Grand Surprise) is the larger, more powerful sibling to the Surprise 25—both from the same French design lineage by Joubert-Nivelt and built by Archambault Boats (later BG Race). Introduced in 1999 as a dedicated racer, it quickly became a favorite for one-design fleets, club racing, and spirited performance sailing. Production ran until around 2017, with only about 110 hulls built, making it a relatively rare but highly regarded "thoroughbred" in the 30-32 ft range. It's celebrated for its lightweight construction, excellent upwind performance (thanks to a deep lead bulb keel), quick acceleration, and thrilling downwind speeds—often hitting double digits with an asymmetric spinnaker off the retractable bowsprit. The fractional rig is easy to handle short-handed (no runners), yet it rewards skilled crews in competitive settings. Owners describe it as a "sports car" on water: responsive, balanced, and fun for round-the-buoys racing, coastal days ails, or even short overnights with family/friends.
Construction Details
| Designer | Joubert-Nivelt |
|---|---|
| Builder | Archambault Boats |
| Length | 31.300 ft |
| LOA | 31.300 ft |
| LWL | 29.300 ft |
| Beam | 9.780 ft |
| Displacement | 5842 lb |
| Ballast | 2370 lb |
| Max Draft | 6.730 ft |
| Year Built | 1999 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 40.29 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 11.19 ft |
| p | 39.86 ft |
| e | 14.44 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40.29 ft | 11.19 ft | 39.86 ft | 14.44 ft | - | - | - | - |
Documents
Sails
Grand Surprise - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 39.86 ft - (12149 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 14.44 ft - (4401 mm) |
| Leech | * 41.79 ft - (12738 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 41.92 ft - (12777 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4.5 in - (114 mm) |
| Area | * 294.894 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Grand Surprise - JIBSAIL
| Luff | 40.682 ft - (12400 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 12.628 ft - (3849 mm) |
| Leech | 38 ft - (11582 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 105.27 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 11.78 ft - (3591 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 5.61 ° |
| Area | * 239.59 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.