the UK’s most comprehensive yacht tests USED boat tESt The Deb 33 is a classic from the board of the famous Sparkman and Stephens design team
draught means she can creep up creeks and anchor in the shallows like a much smaller yacht. The centreboard is bronze, thereby adding to her ballast as well as increasing her draught to 6ft 7in for beating upwind. The board is pivoted at its forward end, so flips up if it hits anything and it is raised and lowered via a Spectra line running up through a wooden post in the saloon and onto a dedicated winch on the coachroof. While most Debs were fitted out at Deacons on the Hamble, a few (including our test boat) were completed by their original owners.
Sailplan The Deb 33 has a masthead rig with either a keel-stepped or a deck-stepped mast, both with a short boom and an overlapping genoa. Originally, they had a roller-reefing boom, but many have since been converted. Usually, a track and turning blocks are added to make her slab reefed, sometimes even from the cockpit. Midsummer II has a Tab Sails vertical furler riveted onto the back of the mast, which still seems to work admirably with her small mainsail. She has a track and traveller immediately behind the tiller
(or in front of the binnacle in the wheel steering model). Her 125% furling genoa has long tracks along the side decks, starting aft of the shrouds. Although this offers a tight sheeting angle for improved pointing under full sail, the sheet lead angle isn’t ideal when the genoa is part-furled.
Deck layout Like many yachts of her time she has a raised toerail, which is teak-capped. Not only does this look good, it also offers security to your feet when going forward under duress – plus it stops small items slipping overboard when dropped. Through-deck scuppers exit below the waterline, so she has no nasty dark streaks down her topsides. Her side decks are wide enough for easy access forward, although her stays are mounted on mid-deck chainplates. The coachroof is single-level, adding to headroom below and resulting in the full-length handrails being at a reasonable height for crew on deck. Cockpit stowage is good, with a fulldepth locker to starboard and a spacious lazarette aft, plus four cave lockers in the seatbacks. To port is usually
The owner Midsummer II was moulded in 1972, but not completed and launched until eight years later by the father of the current part-owner, Brian Thornton. Brian (70) also owned a 27ft woodie and a Roberts 34, which he also refitted himself. After retiring from dentistry and inheriting Midsummer II, he has sold shares in her to keep running costs down. Not only does Brian know every inch of the boat, but he and his partners, Peter and Andrew, ensure she is kept in tip-top condition.
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