# Dreadnought 32



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I would like feeedback from other owners of the Dreadnought 32, how they like there boat ,& how it sails & is at anchor & have they had any problems, w/ the balsa core or any other problems. The only problems i''ve had is w/ the wood masts,that I''m curruntly fixing in Baja, in La Paz where I have my boat on the hard while I''m fighting cancer,& now I''m a suvivor & as soon as I finish my ckemo I''m going back to do some cruising, so I would like input from other owners, as I love My boat & love the way she sails& is at anchor,you really find that out in the Sea of Cortez
Thanks Jim


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## yzlian (Aug 3, 2002)

Am researching into Dreadnought 32. If anyone knows anything about this boat, esp the quality of construction and sailing characteristics, pls write a reply. Many thanks!


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

These are a fiberglass interpretation of the famous Tahiti Ketches. When it comes to build quality these are very difficult boats to classify. For example, they have balsa cored hulls. While I am generally a fan of cored hulls, these boats were built in the 1970''s before the boat building industry undertood how to build a durable balsa cored hull. As a result these boats are bound to have some coring problems and the problems could be very extensive. 

They had concrete (some used resin) and steel boiler punching ballast. This is a recipe for a short lifespan as moisture can reach the steel and eventually destroy the bond bewtween the keel stub and ballast. This is also a low density ballast which meant that these boats have substantially less stability than the wooden externally ballasted Tahiti Ketches and so have substantially less stability. Tahati Ketches were renown as heavy air boats as long as they did not have to go upwind in a breeze. These boats with their significantly higher center of gravity are not likely to be very good heavy air boats and are also bound to have an uncomfortable motion since they are bound to be more rolly than the already rolly original Tahiti''s. 

They came with wooden spars and gaff rigs. This means a whole lot to maintain. 

By any objective standard these are miserably slow boats. poor handling boats with especially poor performance in light to moderate winds and poor safety perforance in heavy air. They do not point worth a darn and so by any reasonable standard can expect to spend a lot of time motoring. Most have bigger fuel tanks than water tanks. 

I would run, not walk the opposite way. 

Jeff


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## GBurton (Jun 26, 2007)

I had a Dreadnought 32 owner tell me that the hull is not cored.

Anybody know for sure?


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## maru657 (Aug 4, 2007)

I own a Dreadnought32 and I can tell you the hull is hand laid fibreglass. The engine is a one cylinder, four stroke sab, 10 horsepower which can be hand cranked. Mine is a cutter rigged sloop with an aluminum mast, the headsail is a genoa and it certainly seems fast enough and is no more tender than other full keeled boats I have sailed. There is a dreadnought owners website at http://www.raireva.com/ this site has an accout of a man single handing a Dreanought around the world. They were built at Carpanteria boat works in CA. I like the boat and get a lot of favorable comments. Refering to the Marine Survey, I can tell you it is hand laminated fiberglass over plywood the keel is moulded with the hull, integral ballast. The designer was WM Crealock.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Do Dreadnaughts have balsa core?????????????


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## GBurton (Jun 26, 2007)

The guy from the D32 owners website mentioned above said that after 76 or 77 there was an option to have a cored hull or solid glass (with roving)

Maru - are you a first owner? How can you tell if it is cored without drilling out a sample?


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## maru657 (Aug 4, 2007)

Mine was one of the last hulls built. It was built in 1982 and sat in a cradle for several years. I believe the hull is solid fiberglass.


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## maru657 (Aug 4, 2007)

I checked with a more knowledgeable person. My hull is solid fiberglass.


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## GBurton (Jun 26, 2007)

How did he tell Maru?


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## maru657 (Aug 4, 2007)

According to the Dreadnought News a letter put out by the people at Dreadnought Boatworks the hulls were in fact balsa cored, However, many have been in the water for over 20 years with no problems. this boat is hand laminated with lamination varying from 1/2" at the rail to 1" at the keel. I'm not sweating it.


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## fullcanopy (Jul 18, 2008)

*My dreadnought is not cored!!*



GBurton said:


> I had a Dreadnought 32 owner tell me that the hull is not cored.
> 
> Anybody know for sure?


 My dreadnought is not cored.!


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## GBurton (Jun 26, 2007)

How do you know?


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## seabreeze_97 (Apr 30, 2006)

Here's an ad for a '74 and they list it as fiberglass balsa-cored.
Boat for sale


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Are you talking decks or hulls. The deck may very well be balsa cored. The hull might or might not be. According to fullcanopy, it is solid glass.


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## seabreeze_97 (Apr 30, 2006)

From the ad:
"Fiberglass balsa-cored hull built in 1974."
I'm sure that won't settle the debate, but there it is.


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## gdecon (Mar 13, 2000)

replacing anything needing a thru-hull would do


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## fullcanopy (Jul 18, 2008)

I have a Dreadnought 32. I have closed up 5 thru hull openings. There is no Balsa Core in my vessel. ODAAT is cutter rigged and heavily built. Rick was in Nova Scotia last summer in ESKIMO on his third circumnavigation. I would trust my Dreadnought on any ocean.

Clyde Nickerson
Master, S/V ODAAT


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Fullcanopy-

That just means the areas the through-hulls were in were solid glass. There may be parts of the hull that are cored. It is very common on a cored hull to leave a solid laminate strip running down the center of the boat for the keel and through hulls.


fullcanopy said:


> I have a Dreadnought 32. I have closed up 5 thru hull openings. There is no Balsa Core in my vessel. ODAAT is cutter rigged and heavily built. Rick was in Nova Scotia last summer in ESKIMO on his third circumnavigation. I would trust my Dreadnought on any ocean.
> 
> Clyde Nickerson
> Master, S/V ODAAT


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## fullcanopy (Jul 18, 2008)

fullcanopy said:


> I have a Dreadnought 32. I have closed up 5 thru hull openings. There is no Balsa Core in my vessel. ODAAT is cutter rigged and heavily built. Rick was in Nova Scotia last summer in ESKIMO on his third circumnavigation. I would trust my Dreadnought on any ocean.
> 
> Clyde Nickerson
> Master, S/V ODAAT


Yes, of course I have not sampled every square inch of ODAATs hull for a core. I have however looked at thru hull holes from the keel area and at various heights above the water line to near the top of the sides of the hull and have not found any core material. I did however find that the homebuilder had cored the cockpit deck with half inch plywood covered with at least a half inch of fibreglass and resin on each side. That is the only place that I have found any sort of core material.

I would of course not presume to argue with anyone as obviously knowledgeable as yourself on the question of the various productions of Dreadnought hulls. In the days that these vessels were being built aand marketed I was a serving soldier and my great annual salary of around seven grand a year did not permit such a fine vessel and feeding a family too.
I would be grateful to you sir if you would be kind enough to point out about where in the hull I might bore out some more holes to find that elusive core of which you speak. Somehow I am driven to wonder if maybe, just maybe, some were cored and some were not.

Clyde L Nickerson
Master, S/V ODAAT


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## maru657 (Aug 4, 2007)

OK, definitive answer. I drilled a thruhole hear the waterline for a sanitary overboard fitting. The hull is as advertised. Solid fibreglass laminate, about 1". According to factory information it is laminated in one piece by means of a transverse rolling mold. She's not as fast as some boats, too heavy. However I've seen 7 knots heeled over on a downwind in southern Calif, waters. I've replaced the engine with a kubota 28 horse. At 2000rpm she cruises at 5.2 knots and at 2300rpm, 6 knots. Mine is cutter rigged, single mast and sails well to windward. She was a little too tender, ie; the boiler punch ballest. However, one day with a jack-drill I pulled a lot of that out and replaced it with lead ballest. Simple fix.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

The one thing Dreadnoughts have in common is that they are all different. Except for a couple of boats built on spec by the yard, they were custom built to the buyers' desires, and most were owner-completed to one extent or another. Some had balsa core, some not. A few were gaff-rigged. Some had the factory glass deck, some various shapes of plywood deck. Probably the most typical Dreadnought was balsa cored hull (IIRC, 1/2" of balsa with about 3/8" skins!!), glass deck (ply cored, I think), marconi cutter, punchings and resin ballast. How do I know? I was there in Carpenteria in 1974, building my own, which I still have. She's not tender, but she does hobbyhorse. The "substantially higher center of gravity" is not true, but the ballast was spread out too much fore & aft, to prevent it. Other than that, they're pretty decent sea boats.


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## nagdog (Mar 1, 2009)

*Dreadnought Info*

In addition to ChrisF46 "being there",for those who still question the info, please note that he is a Naval Architect who has worked for a world-class designer for many years. He is a very modest person.


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## moriahsailing (Jan 8, 2013)

Hello; I am responding o inquires about a dreadnought 32. I have owned my Dreadnought for 24 years and it has been a good boat and have sailed her about 75,000 miles. Most on a 10 year circumnavigation. Boat was given an etra 500 lbs of ballast by the first owner. It took the space of the deep bilge which is a disadantage so a cycling bilge pump and separating the packing with it`s own separate chamber and pump solved that issue. Ketch rigged I found that by lightening the bow and running a 80 percent jib Moriah ran and beat to weather much better than originally. She was over pressed with a 110 percent very full cut jib. I only use it in very light air`s to 10 knotts running. In 20- 35 knotts running with a small jib and double refed main it is possible to run 135-175 miles per day. Across the Indian ocean from Cocos Keeling to Madagascar we averaged 145 per day. Small jib was the way to go. Far less motion and less work. Mizzen is great in light airs on tack to near broad reach. It is very full cut and 110 sq foot. Main is shorter than most but the lower sale plan is preferable. Storage everywhere. %-6 moths stores for 2 people plus spare parts. Use electric auto pilot. I removed the trim-tab after our first passage to the Marquesas as the was too much wetted area uon the rudder. I wore out 4 in 10 years but it was nice having the same brands for spare parts. Installed mast steps which I was happy to have in a calm or smooth seas. The spreader were a favorite perch at these times. Also to get a line that was lost and check the rigging they were indispesable. The down side was lines would get jammed once in a while. On the second engine the md 17c ram over 10,000 hours. Westerbeak does not look to be as good of engine but so far just minor issues after 3 + years.
Happy Saing Randy Short
S/V Moriah
Newport Beach, Ca


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## keeldragger (Mar 25, 2000)

Just came across this old thread. Here's a link a a D32 named Idle Queen. His website has pics showing balsa recoring. From what I have read, balsa core above the waterline. That might not be true for all boats, but it certainly appears to be so for this boat...

Sorry I can't post the link... evidently I have not posted enough to sailnet forums yet.


Cheers, 

Keeldragger


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## Ava_B (Nov 1, 2017)

Thanks Krisscross -

I did notice there is some additional lead bar ballast placed in the bilge. I think your notes on sail handling are right on - the Dreadnaught 32 I have is fitted with a Yankee Jib, Main, Mizzen, and Storm Staysil. I've only taken the boat out a handful of times since buying at auction earlier this month, and the only serious upwind experience was 20 on the nose, where we were healing quite well. Since the staysil wasn't rigged yet, we had Main only and were really badly balanced. The main mast step is positioned such and the boom is so short that she could hardly tack on her own without careful sail handling. I definitely will take your advice on reefing and/or using a jib and jigger set up with the staysil rigged next time.

The yankee jib, unless anyone knows otherwise, just doesn't seem appropriate for jib and jigger on this design since its foot is so far off the deck. I'm just wondering what others do who cruise regularly on a ketch setup with a yankee jib. I suppose I can keep the staysil on deck in a deck bag at all times. Happy to hear thoughts.

Despite her upwind "particularities" I think this boat will work quite nicely for cruising and short trips, has GREAT speed on her beam and quarter, will heave-to well in a blow, and doesn't seem to have any bad action - she mostly tends to hobby horse, virtually no rolling.

Any other advice for a new single-lady Dreadnaught owner? 



Markwesti said:


> Good on you Ava_B for your purchase of your Dreadnaught 32 . Somewhere in this thread a guy talks about taking out the boiler plate punchings and replacing with lead shot and resin and he did it mainly in the center of the ballast area . It would not be possible to add external ballast as these were not bolt on keels , but rather the ballast was added to the inside of the hull (just like a Westsail) . Anyhow because this is your new girl , how about we try a few handling techniques before we get the jackhammer out and start modifying . This might be apples to oranges , but I think our boats have roughly the same similar handling characteristics . First when you are healing to much how much wind are we talking about ? On our boat at around 15 to 18 knots of wind we are healing a lot and we are getting weather helm , simple fix put in the first reef . Weather helm goes away she gets back on her feet and we go faster . Again congrats on your new awesome boat .


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## Old and Not so slow (Feb 5, 2018)

Jeff_H said:


> These are a fiberglass interpretation of the famous Tahiti Ketches. When it comes to build quality these are very difficult boats to classify. For example, they have balsa cored hulls. While I am generally a fan of cored hulls, these boats were built in the 1970''s before the boat building industry undertood how to build a durable balsa cored hull. As a result these boats are bound to have some coring problems and the problems could be very extensive.
> 
> They had concrete (some used resin) and steel boiler punching ballast. This is a recipe for a short lifespan as moisture can reach the steel and eventually destroy the bond bewtween the keel stub and ballast. This is also a low density ballast which meant that these boats have substantially less stability than the wooden externally ballasted Tahiti Ketches and so have substantially less stability. Tahati Ketches were renown as heavy air boats as long as they did not have to go upwind in a breeze. These boats with their significantly higher center of gravity are not likely to be very good heavy air boats and are also bound to have an uncomfortable motion since they are bound to be more rolly than the already rolly original Tahiti''s.
> 
> ...


7800+ posts in six years.
More than three a day.
When do you actually go sailing?
Have you ever seen a Dreadnaught?
My Dreadnaught is solid lay up Gaff Ketch, lead ballast. All bronze fittings.
Far superior build quality than almost everything you see today.
Please do not insult boats you have probably never seen or sailed.
These boats have cruised the globe and are still going strong. She will take you anywhere.
Probably not the boat for the Ches Bay though. That body of water is far to dangerous.


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