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Chris Craft Caribbean 35

29K views 26 replies 17 participants last post by  chuck53 
#1 ·
I'm considering purchasing a Chris Craft Caribbean 35. Anyone sailed one or have experience with one? I'd love to hear your reviews. Only one posted in earlier threads from 2002.
Melanie
 
#3 ·
Just browsed through Yacht World at a couple, First Thoughts with out any first hand experince;
Good Designer Olin Stevens Can't be bad right?
The Cockpit is a bit odd and does not look comfotable in my opinion.
 
#5 ·
caribbean35

Hay Melanie
I have buy a caribbean two year ago
(sorry about my poor english language - maybe you speak franch or italian? If yes please inform me)
It' a merveillous boat, soft in the wave crossing, she get a feeling of solidity and the interiors are confortable.
the boat it's a old lady with 35 years of life, ketch sailed, a little bit undersailed for the poor winds of the Adriatic sea.
If you need same information please mail me , I will be happy to get you the answer I know.
sincerely
Tony
 
#9 ·
Re: caribbean35

Hay Melanie
I have buy a caribbean two year ago
(sorry about my poor english language - maybe you speak franch or italian? If yes please inform me)
It' a merveillous boat, soft in the wave crossing, she get a feeling of solidity and the interiors are confortable.
the boat it's a old lady with 35 years of life, ketch sailed, a little bit undersailed for the poor winds of the Adriatic sea.
If you need same information please mail me , I will be happy to get you the answer I know.
sincerely
Tony
Hi, My name is Neree and i'm also italian...
i'd like to know more about the Caribbean 35 as i'm planning to buy one as well.
would love to have your insights about it and maybe meet up in person for a test :)
 
#11 ·
I'm going to resurrect this several year old thread because one of these has caught my eye.

The relatively shallow draft of 4.7 feet, the low capsize index of 1.68, and the high comfort index of 37.1 caught my eye after the lines of the boat caught it.

A few questions:

- Were all of these Chris Craft 35 Caribbean models initially built as ketch rigs?
- Any thoughts of the suitability of the space below for living aboard and how the headroom might compare to an Irwin center cockpit?
 
#16 · (Edited)
I know these boats quite well. (Edit) I knew of two different models of Chris Craft 35 footers with center cockpits. The originals were called 'Sail Yacht 35' and built in the early to late 1960's and were a very nice Sparkman and Stevens design. They were intended as motor sailors but were surprisingly good sailors for their day and configuration. They had a very good reputation as being well constructed. They had a bit of a wierd layout which required walking out into the cockpit to get to the aft cabin. They were built like wooden boats above the deck level with wooden cabin sides, glassed over ply decks and traditional wooden construction for the cabin tops. Rot and deck problems can be expected on one that hasn't been carefully maintained. I would imagine that they would be reasonably good boats in rougher conditions (although they tend to roll through comparatively wide angles).

They pointed reasonably well for their time and type (motor-sailor) but were not especially fast even when compared to boats of that era. (They are obviously quite slow when compared to more modern designs) I have seen them with asking prices as little as $20K but I have no idea what condition that boat was in. Remember these boats originally had gas engines and given the prejudice against wooden boats and gas engines versions with that combination can be hard boats to sell at a fair price. That said I have always been impressed with these boat's solid shipiness and nicely modeled hulls.

These were all sloops. As was typical of a motor-sailor, they were light on ballast and with their shoal draft tended to be a little short on stability. This was usually not a problem with their small sail plan for a boat of this weight and drag. As a motor-sailor they really were not very good sailors in winds below maybe 10-12 knots and with their minimal ballast needed to be reefed pretty early.

In the mid 1960's the original Chris Craft 35 was replaced with a design which used the same hull but which was clearly more of a motorsailer and far less of a sailor. This redesign is referred to as a Caribbean 35. I've sailed on one of these and found them to be very lacking as sailors with pretty uncomfortable motions.

Chris Craft constructed a very fine line of boats in the 1960's that ranged from a 22 foot daysailer to a 42 foot racer cruiser. Most of these were very nicely designed and constructed boats. But the Caribbean 35, which were built in Asia on contract to Chris Craft, do not fit that description. I assisted my former stepfather who did a lot of repair work on one and really thought they were junky boats in terms of build quality with crude glass work, skip tabbed bulkheads, poor system design and installation, crudely assembled joiner work with concealed elements made from non-marine grade plywood and which also included ferrous screws and finish nails, and so on. My step-dad ended up gutting and rebuilding most of the entire interior of that, and reworking the electrical system to meet the standards of that day.

Compared to the prior Chris Crafts and the earlier Sail Yacht 35 these boats lacked the solid wholesomeness that made the original Chris Crafts so appealing. These mid-1960's and later Caribbean 35's are boats that I would would not recommend if sailing ability, and comfort of motion is important to you.

I've only ever surveyed one of these and was impressed with the strength of construction. In over 4,000 surveys only one other vessel has impressed me in the same way, The Vancouver 27.
I usually agree with your assessments on build quality, but in this case having been through one of these inside and out, down to the bare hull and back, I respectfully find your comments completely at odds with my own observation. I readily acknowledge that you are the professional in this discussion, but this was probably no more than a 10 year old boat and the kinds of things that we encountered on that boat would never fit the description that you used above. I have run into other models which have had a broad range of build quality within the production run (Morgan OI 41's and Newport 41's for example), but there were so few of these built that it would surprise me that there would be that kind or range of quality deficiencies between one and the other. My guess is that you ran into one that someone had rebuilt.

Respectfully,
Jeff
 
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#17 · (Edited)
No argument from me Jeff, As I said I've only seen the one and have no idea of it's pedigree.
The one I surveyed was the version where one had to traverse the cockpit to get to the aft cabin but unlike the one you describe, the decks and trunks were conventional cored glass construction, no plywood involved. I'd swear it was a production boat as there was no indication of rebuild other than new wiring and systems.
 
#18 ·
That is interesting about the all glass house and decks. I had heard that there was a third version of this boat which had the original layout (cross over cockpit to aft cabin) and the original trunk cabin, but which had glass decks and house. I was never sure whether that was simply one of the wood deck versions that had been glassed over rather than a production boat. It sounds like it was a production version and that you may have surveyed one of those. Live and learn. Very Cool!

The version that I described as really junky was the last version of this boat and had a doghouse cabin with a small passage under the cockpit seat which raised the seats quite a bit and amplified the uncomfortable motion.

Jeff
 
#19 · (Edited)
Here she is from the cover page of my survey report. The only non-standard structural item on the boat was the hard dodger added by the owner, In this photo there is something on the aft deck that obscures the aft trunk but I can't remember what it was.

PS. This 1963 boat was (is) a sloop not a ketch and still going strong.
 

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#21 ·
I own a 1964 Chris Craft Caribbean 35. Most of what is said is spot on. I would not go with the older models which were built in Taiwan. I have not seen a ketch rig on the earlier models like what I have. I have put up some videos on youtube which have a walk thru of the boat which may answer some questions you have. If you have more questions just let me know. Just be warned that if you have one of these boats it attracts a lot of attention from "I didn't know they made sailboats" to eventually a tour. I kind of like that. The family gets annoyed at times, especially when waiting in a hot car.

I'm not sure how to post a link on here but if you search "Chris Crafty Sailboat" you should be able to find the video of Northern Light.

And if your really interested you can follow our adventures on the "Northern Light" channel on Youtube or Facebook.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I own a 1964 Chris Craft Caribbean 35. Most of what is said is spot on. I would not go with the older models which were built in Taiwan. I have not seen a ketch rig on the earlier models like what I have. I have put up some videos on youtube which have a walk thru of the boat which may answer some questions you have. If you have more questions just let me know. Just be warned that if you have one of these boats it attracts a lot of attention from "I didn't know they made sailboats" to eventually a tour. I kind of like that. The family gets annoyed at times, especially when waiting in a hot car.

I'm not sure how to post a link on here but if you search "Chris Crafty Sailboat" you should be able to find the video of Northern Light.

And if your really interested you can follow our adventures on the "Northern Light" channel on Youtube or Facebook.
Sure appreciate that video you made, it does a really nice job of showing the layout.

Question though, you said not to go with the older models - I'm assuming since you own a 64 you're referring to boats built before then - which were made in Taiwan...? What years would you recommend avoiding...? Jeff recommended avoiding the post mid 60s "caribbean" models.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I think he means go with the pre 1964 boats rather than the later boats that were built in Taiwan. As far as I know all the US built boats had a straight trunk cabin and a windshield. All the Taiwan boats had a dog house.

Jeff
 
#24 ·
Thank you Jeff. That is what I meant to say.

Movingrightalong, if you look these boats up on sailboatdata.com you will see the difference. The CCC built outside of the U.S. were a bit more traditional of todays boats. It also had a hall way between forward and aft which would raise the cockpit up considerably. I have read that boats like these feel a little un-easy while heeling. I have to tell you though that we really like the windshield. Its nice to not have to worry about the odd wave catching you by surprise. The downside is that while under motor when the wife starts shouting from the bow with her arms flailing around I can't understand what she is saying. We since then we have worked on hand signals. I also like the size of the engine bay, I can get to most everything fairly easily and when we repower to a diesel I will be able to down size our fuel storage from 120gal to about 60gal and have room for other stuff like dive compressors, water makers, ect. This is my second sailboat but I think shes perfect. Although I dont have much experience she is very forgiving and easy to handle. There is also something to be said about the experience of an older lady.:wink
 
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