Caliber Yachts

[meyermm]

Caliber is a yacht brand I have only recently heard about I would love more information. Suitability for cross ocean sailing, they seem to have more like the tankage required.

[Euro Cruiser]

There's been a fair bit of discussion on the Caliber line on the SSCA Discussion Board, which you'll find at SSCA Discussion Board • Index page Just use the search function.

The large tankage is due to their use of integral tanks - as e.g. previously done on the Whitby 42. Just be sure you understand how they execute the construction of these, as there have been trade-offs with this practice. Other criticisms - by some but not all owners - that relate to the boat's use offshore is the way in which the staysail stay is attached to the mast (via a movable track) and the relatively small chart table/electronics area, how easy access to it is (for the watchstander normally in the cockpit) and its ventilation.

Overall, these boats get quite positive reviews.

Jack

[janders]

We have a Caliber 40 - s/v Hello World- although it was made before they started putting the huge tanks in (those are the Caliber LRC's). We love the boat to be sure. We've sailed her from Seattle north through the Inside Passage, around Vancouver Island, down the west coast, down the Baja coast and are now in the Sea of Cortez.

For a cruising boat, she sails reasonably well. She also hauls all the weight of a cruising boat well. The bowsprit makes an excellent anchoring platform with plenty of room to stow awkward anchors like a Rocna. Plenty of room for the two of us on board, plenty of room to entertain. Stainless steel portholes and lots of them. Ventilation is great. We're happy with the quality of construction throughout. She's a boat we'd trust to cross an ocean with. We haven't yet but the south Pacific tempts us.

Our complaints about the boat:
- nav desk is too small for me, just fine for Christy though
- our diesel tankage is too small but if you bought an LRC that certainly wouldn't be a problem
- we have too many through hulls (9) in the boat. I need to work on reducing that number
- in-mast furling main is a double edge sword. It's very easy to pull the main in and out including reefing but the sail shape sucks and it can jam on you. Any deep reaching, we tend to do just under jib alone.
- with the weight aloft and the hull shape being what it is, she's a tender rig

There's lots more information and photos about on our website: www.svhelloworld.com. If you have any specific questions you want to know, I'd be happy to help with what I can.