Carter 33 - Advice, Tips or Cautions ?

[fastforward]

Dear all -

I have been cruising this website for some time and find it very useful. I have recently bitten the bullet and upsized from a Top Hat 25' full keel to a Carter 33' fin keel. Obviously, the carter is a much bigger boat. I have opted for the centre cockpit version which will be more practical and comfortable for the social side of sailing and occasional cruising - while the fin keel means I won't come last in every race (necessarily!)

I was wondering if anyone on this forum has experience (good or bad) of cruising and racing in Carter 33s and if anyone's got any advice on how to tune the rig and other tips besides!

Its in very nice condition with a good Volvo Penta and it's an 88 model that's been well maintained and cared for.

Regards

BL

[Get-a-Life]

Hi Bl,

We have the same yacht, you can't go wrong.

We have sailed our from Sydney to Hobart (Australia) and for the last 2 years have been cruising the waters around Tasmania in all weather conditions.

Of the three ocean going yachts we have owned, this is the smallest and the easiest to sail. Love it to bits.

Best sailed with about 12-15 degrees of heel. Don't try to overpower it, it is an easy driven hull.

Enjoy!!

[fastforward]

All very sound advice and glad that I have bought a good model. Compared to the top hat it's luxury!

We cannot wait to start using her.

[chall]

I have been looking at a couple of Carter 33's as well, with a view to doing a east coast cruise.

How blue water capable are they? Any info on Ballast Ratios etc.

[Sailaddict]

I have owned a Passage 33 for the last 10 years and cannot praise them highly enough. They have a 50% ballast ratio and combined with a beam of 12' at the waterline, they are a very stable boat. They are tremendous offshore and with the mast head rig, they can be balanced to the point of hands free steering, which reduces the load on the autopilot and saves on power usage.
The accomodation is great for a couple for a couple of weeks and will handle 2 couples with ease. Any more (they sleep 7) and you all need to be good friends if it is more than a night or two.

[Shiner]

Originally Posted by Get-a-Life

Hi Bl,

We have the same yacht, you can't go wrong.

We have sailed our from Sydney to Hobart (Australia) and for the last 2 years have been cruising the waters around Tasmania in all weather conditions.

Of the three ocean going yachts we have owned, this is the smallest and the easiest to sail. Love it to bits.

Best sailed with about 12-15 degrees of heel. Don't try to overpower it, it is an easy driven hull.

Enjoy!!

Is your boat the "passage" version? Did you buy it from Batemans Bay?
If so I have done quite a bit of work on the boat for the previous owner and hauled it out to the hard a few times.
Glad to see the boat went to a good home and is finally being used.
Regards. Shiner.
PS I may have a few pics of the boat on the hardstand. Will try and dig them out and post here for you to upload.

[ozskipper]

I had an altercation with a carter 33 once. I was on an RL24. The short story is my rigging caught his rigging. My entire rig hit the deck. He kept sailing and finished the race with only a broken strand on his topping lift.

It was all my fault too. I was on port he was on starboard. Both beam reaching toward each other. I cut it fine and would have made it though until we got under his lee and my boat stood back up from the heel it was on. My spreader grabbed his topping lift and before you could say "well that was stupid" we were sharing the cockpit with a mess of aluminum, stainless wire and Kevlar sails.

Ever since then the name Carter makes me shudder lol.