Blue Water Boats

Lin and Larry Pardey, the legends of small boat world cruising, always like to tell audiences, “Go small and go now.”

It’s good advice. So, we are happy in this issue to offer eight cruising boats under 35 feet that are capable of coastal cruising and even some blue water sailing under the right skippers and in the right weather conditions.

The little sister in the Bavaria fleet of cruising boats built in German, the Cruiser 34 has a voluminous hull that provides the interior living space of a much larger boat. The plumb bow and stern give the 34 maximum waterline length and maximum volume. It also provides for better sailing performance and speeds. The cockpit is huge and has twin wheels and a wide fold-down swim platform in the transom. Down below, the L-shaped galley is to starboard with the double quarter cabin right behind it. The head is aft to port with the aft-facing chart table and bench settee forward of it. The dinette has a folding table so you can seat six comfortably for dinner. The forward cabin has a large V-berth. This is a 34-footer you could live aboard and enjoy cruising as a couple, with friends or small children. Check out the website.

The multiple award-winning Oceanis 30.1 has proven so popular since its launch two years ago that Groupe Beneteau had to open a new factory to keep up with demand. The boat comes in three versions: the standard deep keel design, the shoal keel version and a unique lifting keel configuration. The two keel versions offer a good balance between stability, sailing performance and sure-footedness. The swing keel design makes the 30 foot by 10-foot boat weighing 8,000 pounds trailerable behind a pickup truck. This can be made easier with the optional tabernacle mast. With twin wheels and rudders, a roomy cockpit and folding transom the little cruiser has plenty of space for a family of four or four friends. Down below there are two double cabins with quite large berths, the galley to port, head to starboard and a centerline table with folding leaves. Beneteau has partnered with Yanmar for the diesel and B&G for the electronics, so you are getting top-of-the line equipment. As a weekender and coastal cruiser with some offshore capability, the new Beneteau 30.1 punches way above its weight. Check out the website here. closer you look, the better we get.” I sailed the 315 in Florida after the Miami boat show and found it to be a spritely performer that was close winded and remarkably fast. With asymmetrical chute flying we saw the speedo climb above eight knots. The cockpit has plenty of room for six and the sail handling systems are convenient and thoughtfully laid out. Down below the 315 has two exceptionally large double cabins. The U-shaped galley has plenty of counter space, storage, stove and oven and double sinks. The dinette to port will seat four or five comfortably and the long bench settee will double as an excellent extra berth. For a young family just embarking on their cruising lifestyle or for an older couple downsizing from a larger more complex yacht, the Cataline 315 would make a very smart choice. Check out the website here. https://www.catalinayachts.com/cruiser-series/catalina-315/

No so long ago, Catalina was one of the largest yacht builders in the world. Times have changed and seen the government-support European builders become ascendant. But Catalina still builds great, wholesome American-style cruising boats that sail well and offer the amenities and quality that set them apart from the rest. As Catalina likes to say, “The

A coastal cruiser by design, the 27/3 is also capable of offshore runs along the coast or even a jaunt across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Check out the website.

Com-Pac Yachts are built by the Hutchins family in Clearwater Florida where two generations of the clan have been building great small cruisers and daysailers for many decades. The Com-Pac 27/3 is the third iteration of this great Bob Johnson design and offers many quality details that set the boat apart from the cookie cutter competitors, such a stainless-steel ports, stainless steel deck hardware, an optional windlass and ample use of teak trim. With a long shoal cruising keel and a large rudder, the 27offers great directional stability underway and the ability to explore coves and shallows off limits to many cruisers. Below she has a simple, traditional layout with a V-berth forward, bench settees that double as berths and a bulkhead mounted fold-down saloon table. The galley is aft to port and the enclosed head and shower are to starboard. With a 9-foot beam and a displacement of 6,000 pounds the 27 is eminently trailerable.

The all new Dufour 32 for 2022 is a Felci Yacht Design creation that is a cruising boat for enthusiastic sailors. It is indeed a sport boat with a long bow sprit, tall, fat-head mainsail, a maximum waterline, bulb fin keel and high-aspect rudder. Interestingly, the boat comes with a tiller instead of a wheel or wheels and so will give the helmsperson the lightest and best feel on all angles of sail. The 32’s cockpit is huge as you would expect on a sport boat, and it has a fold-down transom for boarding from a dinghy or swimming. You will want to have a spinnaker and perhaps a code zero aboard so the huge sail locker under the starboard cockpit seat will be welcomed. Down below, there is a large double cabin tucked under the port cockpit seat, a V-berth up front and two bench settees that will be great sea berths

when sailing overnight. The galley has everything you need for cruising vacations. The build is robust, with infused hulls and decks. This fun, fast and family-oriented sport cruiser is a fine addition to the Dufour line. In addition to cruising, I could see entering shorthanded races or even banging around the buoys in the new Dufour 32. Check out the website here. https://www.dufour-yachts. com/en/luxury-boats/dufour-32/ low, you can have either a three-cabin layout, with two quarter cabins and Vberth forward, or a two-cabin layout in which the port quarter cabin becomes a large cockpit locker. The cabin is spacious and has plenty of headroom for tall crew. The galley is to starboard and the head is to port. There is even a chart table facing aft just forward of the head. This is a little cruiser that you can truly sail far and I for one would be happy taking it across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas or down the West Coast to Mexico. Check out the webpage here.

The Hanse 348 does so many things well in the compromise between comfort, convenience and performance that it is hard to know where to begin. But, I’ll start with the full-volume hull that provides a lot of initial stability and huge amount of living space below. The stability means the 348 will sail upright instead of on her ear, which is the fastest and most comfortable way to sail. The full volume provides space below, but it also will make the decks much drier than similar designs, which will make everyone happy when sailing upwind. The cockpit is large enough to seat six at the table; the twin wheels provide great visibility forward and a pathway aft to the vast fold-down swim platform. Down beI sailed this little Island Packet in Annapolis right after hull number one was launched and came away with a big smile on my face. This is a big 34-footer and packs all of the cruising amenities you would expect in a new Island Packet. Unlike the production fin keelers with their spade rudders, in the 349 IPY has stuck with the Full-Foil keel and the attached rudder. With ballast encapsulated inside the keel, running aground, even hard, does not present much risk to the integrity of the hull. The attached rudder is protected from collisions with flotsam. With a built-in bowsprit, you always have bow rollers for two anchors and a place to secure the Solent rig. The Hoyt Jib Boom makes the jib self-tacking and off the wind you can roll that up and roll out a genoa or reacher. The

cockpit offers comfort and protection from boarding waves. Down below, the 349 has double cabins fore and aft, an L-shaped dinette with a fold-down table and to starboard two easy chairs with a small table between them. The head is forward and has a small shower stall. The galley is aft and has double sinks, a three-burner stove with oven, plenty of counter space and ample storage. This little blue water cruiser will take you anywhere and cross oceans in safety and style. Check out the webpage here.

The day I test sailed the brand new Jeanneau 349 on Florida’s Biscayne Bay, we had bright sun and a brisk 12 to 15 knots of eastly trade winds. The new Marc Lombard design has a distinctive look with a plumb bow and stern, high topsides and a reverse sheer line; this combination adds waterline length for sailing performance and interior volume for living space. On all points of sail, the 349 performed much better than we expected and had a turn of speed that you’d expect from a 40-footer. In fact, we sailed right past a couple of new boats also being tested that we five and seven feet longer. The 349 has twin rudders and two optional keel configurations: the standard fin or a folding keel for trailering and shallow waters. Down below you can have either a three-sleeping-cabin layout, or a two-cabin version in which one of the quarter cabins becomes a sail locker and storage space. The galley is plenty large enough and across from it the head even has a shower stall. The 349 sails like a dream, has a great cockpit and the living accommodations of a

much larger boat. I could enjoy sailing this boat just about anywhere and wouldn’t shy from point-to-point racing, either. Check out the website here.

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