Hi there,
I currently own a Cav 32 NZ built in 1973. I don’t know anything about the Phantom 32. The design was by Bob Salthouse in 1969 as an affordable racer/cruiser. 99 boats were built in NZ. At some point, the moulds were
sold to an Ozzie company and Cav 32’s were built there (Under a different name I recall). The NZ Cav 32 has a balsa cored
hull and
deck, which makes them strong, light and rigid; not sure about the Ozzie ones. They are great sailing boats, very close winded and well behaved in all conditions. They have a reputation for being bullet-proof and have done lots of ocean miles. I haven’t heard of
osmosis problems. Mine had a complete bottom peel and expoxy treatment in 2001. The owner was a real meticulous guy and put over $30K into the boat before taking her
offshore with wife and 2 small boys.
The NZ built ones have all-lead keels with 50% ballast ratio. They are very stiff; I don’t need to throw in a reef until its gusting 20kts. The rig is very 1970‘s: big jibs and small main, so you do need to carry at least 3 jibs. Mine has a
roller furler headstay with #1 and #2
genoa, a Solent stay with a hank-on #3 ”blade”, a
storm jib, and storm trysail, also an
asymmetric spinnaker set off the bow roller. With a good set of
sails and clean bottom mine can sit on 6.5kts hard on the
wind all day. I’ve clocked 7.5-8kts broad reaching with the kite up.
Most of the NZ Cav’s were supplied with a
Bukh DV20 and a “V” drive. Several have had the
Bukh replaced with a lighter
Yanmar. A few have had the original shaft drive setup replaced with a
saildrive and I’ve even seen one with a hydraulic drive!
Yes, they are a small volume boat compared to more modern designs, but for single handed or 2 handed cruising this is not a problem, and believe me they sail better than those narrow-bow big-ass modern designs of the same length. For
extended cruising, the only downside is less room to carry toys and supplies.
I haven’t had mine out in open-ocean conditions, but have sailed her on Tasman Bay in 45+kts and 3m short chop seas with no problems.
The OZ Cav32’s were the same
hull, but with changes to the rig,
cockpit and
interior layout. Many had
wheel steering (IMHO not a good thing); they have a 0.8m taller
mast (a good thing for light air performance). That’s all I know about the Ozzie Cav 32’s.
$30K sounds a bit on the
cheap side for a Cav 32 fitted out for ocean cruising, my guess is for that
price you need to
budget another $10K-$15K to get it ready for an extended
cruise. I’ve had 3 cruising boats in 50 years, spent 17 years full-time cruising, and I kinda know what I’m talking about, but hey good luck.
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