# Chris Craft 35'' Sail Yacht?



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

Any thoughts on this boat? Seems to be a reasonably priced heavier (18,000 pound) 35 footer with a full keel...


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

*Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

Chris Craft built two or three diiferent 35 foot sailboats. The first was a 1960''s era center cockpit motorsailor. These were nice boats in a lot of way. They sailed reasonably well for a motorsailor of that era, which is to say that they were capable of sailing in a pretty wide range of conditions, but they were not great sailors compared to non- motorsailor sailboats of that era, and are very poor sailors compared to more modern designs. These boats had fiberglass hulls but the deck and cabin were constructed the way you would build a wooden boat, so careful maintenance would be critical.

In the 1960''s Chris Craft also offered a 35 foot sailboat but I don''t think that many were built because they were pretty close in price to the 37 foot Apache and so I have never actually seen one in the flesh.

The third 35 foot Chris Craft was a motorsailor built in Asia during the 1970''s. These were miserable boats on all counts. I have a fair amount of direct experience with these boats. They were poorly built, poor sailers and miserable to work on.

Good luck,
Jeff


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

Jeff,

Thanks for the heads up. Indeed, this is the 1963 vintage center cockpit, equipped with a 36 HP Mercedes diesel...

Thanks for the information; there isn''t a lot of information on these vessels available on the web and it''s a good thing to get input from someone who knows them.


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## mgiguere (May 22, 2004)

*Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

I just found out that my Apache 37 was built in Salsbury MD. It''s been an outstanding boat over the last twenty years that I have had it and solidly constructed.

Moe


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

Amac: a sistership is a few slips down from me. I don''t think he has computer access. If you have specific questions, ask, and I will try to get answers for you.
Joe


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

Joe,

Thanks. My questions are mostly just general in nature: are there any particular gotchas or words to the wise when it comes to this model vs. other classic plastic boats of its general vintage?

Having decided that I want a centercockpit boat between 30 and 35 feet with a full keel built before 1972 begins to limit my choices as it is, and this Chris Craft seems to fit the bill nicely.


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## Bonzai (Jan 21, 2011)

*Re: Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*

Yes, I do realize that this answer is about 8 yrs late but I see the need for it here since the responses concerning this GREAT boat are lacking. Also I want to be very clear that the SailYacht 35 and the following Carribean model share only a hull form in common and not much else! I have owned a 1964 SailYacht 35 for almost 3 yrs now. I find it to be an excellent boat for anyone wishing to cruise bluewater short-handed. Salacia is a very heavily constructed little ship and has never disappointed me in any way. To correct an erroneous statement made in other comments here I would point out that the hull AND deck are solid fiberglass with NO coring anywhere. The main thing to look for in these boats is the cabin trunk condition as they were made of beautiful mahogany wood, glassed over by most as mine was, and victim to wood rot if leaks have been allowed over long periods of time. An easy fix even if so, but something to definitely look for. The only other unusual problem I have had was in rebuilding the shaft log, as it is so much more robustly designed than modern boats and requires a bit more effort and knowledge to replace. Rather than being a few inches long the shaft log SS liner is around 3 ft in length and difficult to dislodge and remove compared to the 9 in ones you see now. But the fact is it went 50 yrs without a problem before repair was needed. My gal is outfitted with a Perkins 50 HP diesel which operates very well and dependably. With proper rigging she is easily sailed by one person and does surprisingly well on all points of sail. Not a racer per se but not a slouch at all. Overall a very safe and sturdily built craft which I feel very lucky to own. BTW, I bought her for only 9k USD and after 20k in repairs and mods have a very cruise-worthy little ship I would take anywhere, across oceans or along a coast.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

*Re: Chris Craft 35'''' Sail Yacht?*



Bonzai said:


> To correct an erroneous statement made in other comments here I would point out that the hull AND deck are solid fiberglass with NO coring anywhere.


To correct what may only be a partially the eroneous statement since it may be dependent on the specific boat in question, at least the one I helped install additional cleats on, had decks that were glass over marine plywood over wood deck beams. In other words the decks were constucted in the same manner as you would build the deck of a wooden boat but with a heavier F.G. sheathing on the walking surface, rather than canvas or dynel which would have been more typical in 1963.

Jeff


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