Contessa 35

[pkilty]

Hi all,
I have been beating the bushes in the New England area for a 35 to 38 footer.
I have just sold my sabre 28 that I spent the last two years restoring. I am not looking for a project boat. A little cosmetic work is O.K. (even some soft spots in the deck). My price is up to 55k. I have run the gauntlet of Tartan 37s, Bristol 35.5s, Niagara 35s and a beautifully maintained 1974 Pearson 39.
I have raced on many C&Cs and fing them generic.

I have been sailing for over 40 years and can not stand the new generation of suppositories with sticks !!!

I will be weekending, week to two week cruising and if life works out maybe a month to go south. I enjoy the occasional race The lion share of my sailing will be in the New England area. I want a boat that is comfortable, but does well in light air.

I have recently come across a Contessa 35 in great shape. She was owned by a guy who new the right way to take care of a boat. Turn Key with lots of new gear. Westerbeke diesel and a very good sail inventory. She has been set up with roller furling and all running rigging led to cockpit with self tailing
winches. She has oversized self tailing primaries.

My thought is, a mostly retiered one tonner that can be sailed short handed
could be a great light air summer sailing boat.

My problem no one seems to know anything about the 35. The Contessa 32 is world famouse for many good reasons. Any thoughts out there?

Thank You and Thank God (and Al Gore) for the internet.

[JohnRPollard]

I don't know much about the Contessa 35, except they were an early IOR boat. My understanding is that some of the early IOR designs were not as maligned as later ones.

In your price range I would also suggest looking at the Canadian Sailcraft (CS) boats, particularly the 36.

P.S. Thank the Department of Defense (specifically, DARPA) for the Internet.

[Faster]

The Contessa 35 is a Doug Peterson design of the late'70s IOR era, not too different from the breakthrough Ganbare 35 at the time.

As a Contessa I'd expect the build quality to be a cut above the other generic builders of that time, like Chaser and US yachts. These boats are not ideal passagemakers but offer lively performance despite some probable quirky behavior downwind in a breeze. That said, they can offer good value for the money. If it's the one in Stanford CT it looks pretty nice and well kept.

Certainly she'll be a good performer esp upwind, but a much different vessel than more recent designs that were not trying to cheat a specific design rule. Sometimes (often) this process produced boats that "rated" well but did not necessarily have blind speed, and occasionally produced boats with real bad habits. Some of these models show their Racer/Cruiser bent (as opposed to Cruiser/Racer) with pipe berths and sail stowage over accomodation.

Good luck.

[sailingdog]

Some good boats to look at are located here, including the CS 36T JRP mentions.

[pkilty]

Thanks for the input. I missed the cs 36 as a possible choice. She's no light weight, but the feedback seems to indicate a good sailing boat.

[Faster]

FWIW I think the CS 36T would be a much better, more versatile and offshore capable boat than the Contessa 35 - they have a solid rep and I know of several that are on the Mexico/Pacific cruise path.

Owners are enthusiastic supporters....

[Maine Sail]

The CS 36 is no light air slouch even though she's heavy for a 36 fin keeler. The design weight is also not very accurate and most owners report them being closer to 16k dry and 17,500+ for coastal cruising when loaded. Mine has been from Labrador to South America and through the canal and shows little to no signs of aging..

The Contessa 35's (IOR/ Doug Peterson model) are great well built boats but are a little cramped for a 35. As you know the Tartan 37 and Bristol 35.5's are also great but I dare say the CS is faster. You really have to go a long way to beat the looks of the Tartan 37 though..

Feel free to check out the photo gallery of our 36T so you can get an idea of what they look like. Finding good clean boats is ALWAYS tough and CS 36T's are a little slim in New England.. Good luck!

CS-36T Gallery (LINK)

[sailingdog]

Maine Sail—

Isn't it about time you upgraded to a bigger boat...

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Maine Sail—

Isn't it about time you upgraded to a bigger boat...

No!!! But I was eye balling a beautiful Bristol 38.8 last week....

For us three the 36 is the perfect boat! Besides I'm not done tweaking her yet so I can't upgrade..

I'm boat neighbors with a stunning Mark Ellis designed Bruckmann 42 named Pinniped (the exact one Bruckmann show cases has on their web site). That boat really makes me DROOL like a St. Bernard but it costs about 7-8+ CS-36's.....

Very high DROOL factor!
Bruckmann 42 (LINK)

[bubb2]

I know those guys from Maine are set in their ways. But I don't get the tying off the stern to mooring ball thing.