I think the reason you get such polarized opinions on these boats was the dramatic variation in quality of build. Ive seen some that were structurally unsound when brand new and some that were rock solid.
As I understand it, the builds were subcontracted out. So it likely depends on who the individual
boat was subbed to and how well they were supervised.
This could I suspect also affect sailing performance in terms of both speed and pointing ability. Some critize the boats as being slow and not pointing. My W35 is certainly not a performance
boat (especially not in "cruising trim"...AKA overloaded!), but we still
cruise along most of the time at 5 to 7.5 knots depending on conditions under sail only (below 5, I fire up the iron gennie...at least one of them). A bit faster, like 8-8.5, in very favorable conditions (the sweet spot is 15+ knots apparent at about 120d AWA). Highest reasonable under sail only speed is about 10 knots, but thats not a sustainable average. Boat breaks into a surf VERY easily (not always a good thing) maybe due to its wide beam, have surfed to 15 knots. Pointing ability is good, it will happily sail along at 40-45 AWA and will pinch higher if needed (with a drop in speed of course). No strong tendency to round up when pointed high. If
motor sailing very close to
wind I can get some drive from the
sails starting at 30d AWA. The boat will maneuver under sail in light air just fine, but not very quickly.
For a small cruising cat, under sail performance is certainly acceptable. However, with twin MD2020s (rated HP of only 18), performance under
power is less than stellar.
Power only, static conditions, speed at about 2,200
RPM is 5.5-6.0 knots. Note that 2,200 is lower than Volvo's recommended cruising
RPM, but a good compromise in my experience for this boat/engine combination. A bump in HP to an
MD2030 or equivalent I think would make a big difference...especially for motoring into bad conditions.
Quality of build on mine was pretty good. Glass
work was good except for some gel coat voids...which after 16 years have all been discovered and repaired. Glass
work, even in hidden areas, was good. Didn't like the original
fuel tank install so replaced with new.
Electrical work was very well done.
Engine and sail drive install well done.
Rigging and related
hardware all major brand name and installed properly. Most
deck cut outs (for hatches etc) did have the core edges sealed, but not all of them (which Ive corrected). The only spots where Ive had wet core issues were my, or subcontractors, fault. Core on my build stops at
water line...well...the design
water line anyway. 😉 No
delamination issues.
Low bridge
deck clearance is the biggest, and unfixable, negative.
Overall the boat has served my uses (cruising,
charter, live aboard) just fine. Its not the ultimate cruising cat, but it only had one comma in the
price.
Bottom line, as suggested in other posts, be very careful about
buying a used one and
survey thuroughly.
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions