Cape George 38

[CaptainCosmo]

Dear Community,

I’m looking for information on the sailing characteristics and any other information pertinent to the Cape George 38. By the numbers, she’s an incredibly safe and stable boat, but slow.

There are a few for sale and I’m seriously considering purchasing one for our young family. Our boys are 3 and 6mos. My wife and I owned a Contessa 26, sailed the jibsheets off her, then had our first child and got into a PacificSeacraft34. When we got pregnant again we figured we were done with sailing for a time, and sold the 34, but not so! We’re obsessed with being on the water and want our boys to grow up fully marinized. So after a lot of research and deliberation I’ve fallen rather smitten with an immaculately refit, equipped, and maintained CG38 in the Sea of Cortez. We’d go there to purchase and cruise this winter, then sail her home to Vancouver Island in the spring, and head north in the summer to Alaska. I figure this will be a great boat for several years while our lads are young and we need a very stable and safe cruising plantform. I like sailing in strong winds, where I’m sure this boat will excel, but, is she a total slug in fair weather?

This particular boat is totally dialled, with a lightweight drifter added, but I wonder if I’ll regret buying a boat with such a low SA/D number of 13.64.

Has anyone sailed a CG38?

Thanks,

Ryan

[boatman61]

Well a Cape George 36 won the Golden Globe with Kirsten at the helm, and looking at Sailboatdata 38 is a stretched version of the same with a hull speed of a shade under 8kts.
I'd say if she surveys well you have a great boat..
Long distance sailing is a great leveller of similar sized boats I have found, unlike Harbour hopping day sailing.

For example..
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/hunter-380/

[MerMike]

I crawled around inside one during a refit. It was a solidly built, and beautifully finished boat. If I was wasn't so tall they'd be on my shortlist (pun intended).

[barnakiel]

I have seen one that fell off a platform. The damage was minimal given the case. Hence I can assure you lamination is thick and well laid. These boats will age slow and keep value well.



It is a simple boat, but it is a heavy boat. Depending on where you dock, her keel / displacement / rudder / bowsprit layout may not be what you can handle.


The interior space is very limited compared to a modern hull of the same LOA. Interior safety offshore is excellent.



The long bowsprit is very sub optimal in any marina. Getting on deck from the bow is a major challenge to anyone less than fighting fit.


The deck and the cockpit are very safe. The amount of wood outside is a question of how much you like wood and varnishing.


Offshore, it is likely a very very decent boat for experienced sailor who is not in great hurry. Inshore and in locally it is a beautiful, if difficult, boat.


b.

[TrentePieds]

Ryan:

You said: "... then sail her home to Vancouver Island in the spring..."

With a Contessa and a PS34 behind you, you cannot not know that regardless of SA/D ALL boats are slugs in the Staits of Georgia on a brilliant August afternoon!
:-)

And I'm sure you also realize that the SA/D is a number for designers to pay attention to, but fairly trivial for the practical sailorman. An SA/D of thirteenish is appropriate for passage making "where the winds their revels keep", but a tad short for the Salish Sea and totally without meaning in Desolation Sound where the "iron wind" must come to your assistance. And there the ratio that counts is HP/Displ. Four to the ton will do.

What really matters is whether you can carry enough sail to reach "hull speed" in winds of, say, 8 knots, which requires a LOT of sail, and whether you can reef that huge lot of sail so you are still comfortable in 30 knots of wind. That sort of versatility is not apparent in the "published numbers" because it depends in part on just how the particular boat is fitted.

As to a cruising boat needing to be "weatherly", I hold the heretical view that it is of little importance. In days of yore, before we had the iron wind, weatherliness was obviously of considerable importance, particularly if you were homeported on a lee shore. Being embayed, then, was clearly quite worrisome, but these days — nothing, but NOTHING, goes to weather like 2,800 RPM!

FWIW, I would think, knowing nothing of you and your family, that the CG38 would fill the bill most admirably. A boat I've lusted after for half a century is the Fast Passage 39. You might google it up on the SailboatData site for comparisons sake.

All the best to ye :-)!

TrentePieds

[boatman61]

Funny enough there's one for sale in your designated area..
https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/yacht/1...ge-39-9324105/

[TrentePieds]

Thanks Boatman :-)

But it's too late now :-) About six or seven years ago there was one for sale just down the dock from my slip: Just in from a circumnavigation and ready to go again the day tomorrow. C$65K. I was soooo tempted!

But MyBeloved had a new granddaughter pending, and in any event was not ready for the open ocean. And now — 85 rolled past a few days ago, and my reaction time, balance and general strength have now declined enuff that neither am I :-)!

TP

[CaptainCosmo]

TrentePieds,

Totally agree:
What really matters is whether you can carry enough sail to reach "hull speed" in winds of, say, 8 knots, which requires a LOT of sail, and whether you can reef that huge lot of sail so you are still comfortable in 30 knots of wind. That sort of versatility is not apparent in the "published numbers" because it depends in part on just how the particular boat is fitted.

I’m in tge midst of putting together an offer on the CG38. This is after lots of deliberations, late night solo, and conversations with my wife. For the Salish Sea/Desolation Sound, let’s face it, heretical or not, your best bet is a motorboat… if your cruising season is June-August. That however has not typically been my cruising season. I’m more of a September-April skipper. My wife loves being on the water, and would likely be fine with a nice ‘putt-putt’ if she weren’t married to a guy who wants to sail to around the planet. Soo, if we putt-putt sometimes around here in light airs with the kids, I think that’s fine.

Your comment about sailplan is on the mark though. The reported SA/D number is with a reference sail plan. When you put in a 135% genoa, the number goes way up. The boat we’re looking at has been very fully upgraded and tricked out with full Carol Hasse sails, and has a drifter genoa too, for light winds. Surely these factors will contribute to decent performance.

Ryan

[Bowdrie]

The CG boats are quite nice, and the builders are above reproach.
They are basically adaptations of a design done by William Atkin in the 1930s.
Bill Atkin knew a thing or three about what was needed in a real seagoing boat, a boat that would take care of its people in the worst of conditions.
And also, one that didn't require a highly experienced crew or constant "fiddling with" to keep her on track.
A boat that's not only "easy on the nerves", but one that doesn't look like a space-age plastic blob.
A fine vessel for you and your family.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Ryan,

I've a few comments on your situation:

1. Many CG yachts were sold as bare hull/deck combos and then fitted out by the owner. This means that there is a large variation in the overall quality of the boat. Do you know if the subject boat is factory finish?

2. The comment about reaching hull speed in 8 knots true... well, even with a drifter that seems unlikely with this boat, for it is a difficult benchmark for any cruising yacht, let alone one of this nature.

3. Y our comment about how the SA improves with the addition of a genoa... this is true, but it is also true for all the boats that you might compare her with. The metric is defined with the "reference sail plan" for a reason!

4. I assume that you know that you will be charged for the OAL (including bowsprit and other spars that protrude beyond the LOD) when negotiating costs with a marina. In some areas this can be a considerable increment!

5. All said, the CG family have a good reputation for quality and performance (for their type) and if you are content to use the engine in light airs, she could well be a great boat for your family.

Jim

[barnakiel]

Yes. In very light winds, if there is any swell running, it IS a slow boat. It will sail at 0 knots - in less than 5 knots of wind.


If you are a skilled sailor, if there is not too much swell, she will sail at 3-5 knots, in 5-10 knots of wind. Depending on AWA and on your light wind patience.



It has a hull that will roll and shake off any light wind off her sails. That's why we have engines. NO?


For light winds, you want a boat similar to a Class40 - flat, beamy, light, with big big sails (relative to displacement) and with long narrow fin and rudder foils.


A repurposed Class40-like boat will easily accommodate a family of 4. Given you are willing to adjust somewhat to such comforts.


There is a US available boat, I think called J-111, that sails very well in light winds, is quite comfortable for four, and pretty modern too. Probably a better buy than a CG boat, if you want to sail where winds are predominantly light.



b.