Perry Design Review: Cal 33

This newest design for Cal is again by C. Raymond Hunt Associates. Cal has long been a leader in the production of very versatile, cruiser-racer types. You put together an argument that this boat is a performance cruiser, but regardless of how you are inclined to classify it the boat will be fast and comfortable.

The drawings from the Hunt office always deserve comment. They are clear, concise and technically accurate, while maintaining an artistic look. This gives the drawings a combination of technicality blended with a pictorial element. I am hooked on Krusteaz pancakes, but there is a certain purity to the "from scratch" approach. The avid student of yacht design should study these drawings and file away other designer's drafting tricks. The student should be able to pick and choose from the best and come up with his or her own unique style.

This month I had two students from Landing Boat Shop observing in my office. I presume this is educational and fun for the students. I know that I enjoy my contact with students of yacht design. I think it helps to keep me young and reminds me of the time when I was a kid. I would go down to Bill Garden's office on Saturday mornings and stand there dumbstruck while he ignored me and went about his work. He gave me full access to anything in his office, so I spent the time just poking through his files. They were sacred files to me.

Let's ramble on back to the Cal 33. The last Lapworth designed Cal 33 was a dynamite boat that got caught between the CCA and the IOR. The old Cal 33 has lots of sailing length and the IRO was not fooled, so the 33 rates up with the One Tonners. It was just the wrong tool for the job on the IOR race course. But these boats enjoyed a long and fruitful life in the PHRF fleet. I used to race against the old 33 in my Esprit 37. We rated the same but I usually found a way to get around to studying a 33 transom. I guess what I am trying to say is that the new 33 better be a good boat — it has big boots to fill.

The sections look good. The boat has a D/L ratio of 231 and comes in deep and shoal draft models. I realize that the D/L rations and SA/D ratios I quote are taken from brochure figures that may or may not accurately reflect the launched condition of the yacht in question. However, they are the numbers I am presented with and the do give us a clear indication of what the designer had in mind. True, there is some confusion over just how you should measure DWL and displacement but I'm not worried. We'll just go on doing the best we can with the information provided.

The interior is not Euro. It is American. The layout is a subtle refinement of basic layout A/3. The settee berth is offset with the dinette. There are no staterooms aft. The V-berth is certainly V-ed and I wonder if my size 14's would fit in that tight space. But that said, this is an interior that 10 years ago would have made a 36-footer look good.

The new 33 has a normal amount of horsepower as indicated by a SA/D ratio of 18.07. Note that there are fore and aft lowers and very mid boom sheeting.

I think that this is kind of a chunky looking design. The lines to the house are fairly abrupt and this combined with the short ends of the hull gives the boat a stocky, muscled look. There is plenty of sailing length here and the total picture is pleasing if not too exciting. It's the same old story. The client asks for a boat that has more interior than the competitor's and the designer has to push in this direction while trying to maintain a svelte appearance. Note the aesthetically effective small wedge the forward hatch sits on.

I would like to a new 33 going head to head with an old Lapworth 33 (with new sails and a clean bottom). I am sure that the new 33 should have the design advantage but it still would be an interesting comparison.

Boat Specifications