Dreadnought 32

[svstarduster]

I would like feeedback from other owners of the Dreadnought 32, how they like there boat ,& how it sails & is at anchor & have they had any problems, w/ the balsa core or any other problems. The only problems i''ve had is w/ the wood masts,that I''m curruntly fixing in Baja, in La Paz where I have my boat on the hard while I''m fighting cancer,& now I''m a suvivor & as soon as I finish my ckemo I''m going back to do some cruising, so I would like input from other owners, as I love My boat & love the way she sails& is at anchor,you really find that out in the Sea of Cortez
Thanks Jim

[yzlian]

Am researching into Dreadnought 32. If anyone knows anything about this boat, esp the quality of construction and sailing characteristics, pls write a reply. Many thanks!

[Jeff_H]

These are a fiberglass interpretation of the famous Tahiti Ketches. When it comes to build quality these are very difficult boats to classify. For example, they have balsa cored hulls. While I am generally a fan of cored hulls, these boats were built in the 1970''s before the boat building industry undertood how to build a durable balsa cored hull. As a result these boats are bound to have some coring problems and the problems could be very extensive.

They had concrete (some used resin) and steel boiler punching ballast. This is a recipe for a short lifespan as moisture can reach the steel and eventually destroy the bond bewtween the keel stub and ballast. This is also a low density ballast which meant that these boats have substantially less stability than the wooden externally ballasted Tahiti Ketches and so have substantially less stability. Tahati Ketches were renown as heavy air boats as long as they did not have to go upwind in a breeze. These boats with their significantly higher center of gravity are not likely to be very good heavy air boats and are also bound to have an uncomfortable motion since they are bound to be more rolly than the already rolly original Tahiti''s.

They came with wooden spars and gaff rigs. This means a whole lot to maintain.

By any objective standard these are miserably slow boats. poor handling boats with especially poor performance in light to moderate winds and poor safety perforance in heavy air. They do not point worth a darn and so by any reasonable standard can expect to spend a lot of time motoring. Most have bigger fuel tanks than water tanks.

I would run, not walk the opposite way.

Jeff

[GBurton]

I had a Dreadnought 32 owner tell me that the hull is not cored.

Anybody know for sure?

[maru657]

I own a Dreadnought32 and I can tell you the hull is hand laid fibreglass. The engine is a one cylinder, four stroke sab, 10 horsepower which can be hand cranked. Mine is a cutter rigged sloop with an aluminum mast, the headsail is a genoa and it certainly seems fast enough and is no more tender than other full keeled boats I have sailed. There is a dreadnought owners website at http://www.raireva.com/ this site has an accout of a man single handing a Dreanought around the world. They were built at Carpanteria boat works in CA. I like the boat and get a lot of favorable comments. Refering to the Marine Survey, I can tell you it is hand laminated fiberglass over plywood the keel is moulded with the hull, integral ballast. The designer was WM Crealock.

[conrat66]

Do Dreadnaughts have balsa core?????????????

[GBurton]

The guy from the D32 owners website mentioned above said that after 76 or 77 there was an option to have a cored hull or solid glass (with roving)

Maru - are you a first owner? How can you tell if it is cored without drilling out a sample?

[maru657]

Mine was one of the last hulls built. It was built in 1982 and sat in a cradle for several years. I believe the hull is solid fiberglass.

[maru657]

I checked with a more knowledgeable person. My hull is solid fiberglass.

[GBurton]

How did he tell Maru?