Rustler 36

Construction and Dimensions

Hand laid GRP to Lloyd's Register specification. Independent survey during construction

Sleipner Sidepower 4hp bow thruster (lower unit/gearbox and propeller replaced in 2023)

Encapsulated long keel

Keel hung rudder

Edson rack and pinion steering incorporating the direct drive autopilot

Hand crafted teak Solent steering wheel

Teak laid decks, cockpit and seating

Last antifouled Spring 2025

Heads inlet sea cock reconditioned with new seals in 2023

Galley and engine sea cocks replaced in 2024

APPROXIMATE DIMENSIONS:

Length Overall: 10.77m (35'4")

Length Waterline: 8.21m (26'11")

Beam: 3.35m (11'11")

Draft: 1.67m (5'6")

Displacement: 7,623kg 

Ballast: 3,456kg

Rig

Masthead sloop rig

Z Spars keel stepped mast and spars

Whisker pole

Spinnaker pole

Removable bowsprit

Stainless steel standing rigging replaced in 2023

Twin backstays

Detachable inner forestay with highfield lever

Running rigging inspected and replaced as necessary

Rod kicker

Gybe preventer

Single line slab reefing 3 reefs

Lazy jacks

Harken dual track genoa furler

WINCHES:

2 x Harken Barbarossa 44.2 self tailing primary winches

Lewmar 30 Self tailing sheet winch (to port)

Lewmar 30 sheet winch (to starboard)

2 x Lewmar 30 self tailing halyard winches

Meisner 18 reefing winch

Meisner 18 auxilliary/mainsheet winch

SAILS:

Hood fully battened mainsail with 3 reefs

Hood genoa

Crusader high aspect staysail

Hood MPS cruising chute with Selden Code Zero furling system

North Sails storm jib (unused)

Original North Sails sails in usable condition (genoa could be re-cut for twin foresail rig)

Machinery

Yanmar 3GM-30 27hp diesel engine

954cc three cylinder motor with sea water cooling

Major engine service in 2023

Exhaust manifold and water jacket descaled in 2022

New water pump 2025

Stern gland and cutlass bearing replaced in 2008, repacked in 2024

Shaft drive to custom three blade 16 x 12 in. Brunton high tensile manganese bronze propeller and gearbox change for improved performance over standard

Dual alternators

Maximum speed: 6+ knots approx

Cruising speed: 5.5 knots approx

Single lever throttle/shift

ELECTRICS:

2 × 12 V 110 Ah sealed batteries with isolator switches

Batteries charged by... 

Twin engine alternators 

Rutland 914i wind turbine (installed ca. 2013, rebuilt ca. 2018 with stainless bearings and sealed) 

50W solar panel (ca. 2013) and 12W trickle panel with controller

Rutland HRDi charge controller for wind and solar

240V/350W shore power automatic constant voltage battery charger

Electrical catastrophic-failure protection system (2014)

Schottky low-voltage-drop diodes where advantageous

240V shore power via consumer unit supplying charging system, calorifier and 13A sockets

240V to 12V 350W power supply for constant-voltage battery charging and continuous power in port (for HF/Amateur sets — not supplied)

Insulators in backstays providing top-fed inductively coupled sloper antenna, tunable for Amateur HF and Marine HF

TANKAGE:

151 litre (33 gallon) stainless steel fuel tank with site guage

208 litre (46 gallon) water tank

WATER SYSTEM:

Pressurised hot and cold water system

Water heated by engine calorifier, 240v shore power and 12v immersion heaters

Accommodation

Sleeps 6 in two cabins and the saloon

6'4" headroom

Interior joinery in mahogany, sycamore and cedar, with matched veneers

High quality joinery with dovetail joints

Teak cabin floor

FORWARD CABIN:

Large double V berth with storage below

Built in chest of drawers

High level shelving

Reading lights

Overhead hatch to deck

HEADS/SHOWER COMPARTMENT

Stainless steel handbasin with hot and cold taps

Shower head with hot and cold mixer

Lavac sea toilet (pump renewed with new hoses as required in 2025)

High and low level storage lockers

Towel rail and hooks

Mirror

Hand rails

SALOON:

L shaped settee berth to port converts easily to a large double

Settee berth to starboard with lee board

Storage below both berths

Large drop leaf saloon table with bottle lockers

Radio/reading/writing table with drawer and book case

High level storage lockers and shelves

Overhead hatch to deck

Switchable red/white light

NAVIGATION AREA:

Full size chart table with storage below

Dedicated space for mini PC and monitor (Included)

Book case

Electrical distribution panel

Dedicated storage for binoculars & torch (included)

GALLEY:

Twin stainless steel sinks with hot and cold mixer

Plastimo Neptune 4500 two burner gas cooker with grill

Waeco Coolmatic top loading refrigerator

Drop down work top extension

High and low level storage lockers

Dedicated crockery stowage

Kitchen roll holder

Hand rail

Safety strap

QUARTER CABIN:

Separated from the saloon by way of a curtain

Large single berth with lee board and storage below

Drop down shelf

Reading light

Inventory

NAVIGATION AIDS:

Sestral Major compass with switchable red/white light

Mini PC with integrated Collins commercial GPS running with Meridian Chartware software loaded with Admiralty digital charts

Dell 14" PC monitor (12v)

NASA AIS engine (displays on the PC)

Garmin GPS60 mounted into the cockpit and linked to the PC

Stowe Dataline Depth

Stowe Dataline Wind

Stowe Dataline Speed

Stowe Dataline Central multifunction display at the chart table

Cetrek 737 autopilot 

Cetrek fluxgate compass display

Icom IC-M120 VHF radio

Sextant

Clock and Barometer

Masthead LED tricolour and anchor light, deck spreader light and Windex replaced in 2023

GROUND TACKLE:

10kg Delta anchor with 45 metres of 3/8" calibrated chain

Simpson Lawrence Powerman 700 windlass (Rebuilt with stainless steel bearings in 2011)

Fortress kedge/second anchor

SAFETY EQUIPMENT:

XM 4 man ORC liferaft (Next service due in 2026)

2 x lifebuoy lights

Danbuoy

Radar reflector

Deployable radar reflector

4 x Automatic lifejackets with integral harness. Surveyed and tested 2015

2 x Automatic lifejackets, unused

2 x 2kg fire extinguishers with pressure gauges, safe level 

1 x 1kg fire extinguishers with pressure gauge, safe level

Fire blanket

Pilot gas alarm

Signalling mirror

Emergency tiller

Bosun's chair

Spotlight with power socket in the cockpit

4 x Emergency insulating blankets

4 x Seasure cockpit mounted folding harness points 

Man overboard throwing line

Fog horn

Large bolt croppers

Henderson Mk5 manual bilge pump

Automatic bilge pump

Gaslow gas pressure gauge

First Aid kit

GENERAL EQUIPMENT

Avon Rover dinghy with removable floorboards, oars and pump

Folding cockpit table

Sprayhood

8 x Fenders

Large ball fender

Mooring lines

Approx 60 metres 16mm warp as additional anchor line or towing in bad weather

Cockpit sun awning

Mainsail cover

Companionway rain cover

Forehatch wind scoop

Cockpit tonneau cover

Stainless steel boarding ladder with rope ladder extension

9 fenders

Large ball fender

Mooring lines

60 metres 16mm warp for towing or as additional anchor line

Roll up hose pipe

Anchor ball

Motoring triangle

Brass oil lamp

7 x 50 binoculars

Wind up/rechargable lamp

Spares and maintenance stores including spare toggles, shackles and blocks

Extensive instruction manuals

Yanmar workshop manual

Sony stereo radio/cassette player

Owner's Comments

The Journey to the Rustler 36, Drifter II

As a physicist, my career involved doing research at a number of  Universities across Northern Europe (UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland). During this time, I owned several boats, including a Halcyon 27, Halmatic 30, and a Nicholson 32.

The logistical challenges and the experience gained in sailing these boats in the Baltic,  the North Sea, the Channel and into the Western Approaches led me to think seriously about building a long-distance blue water cruising vessel suitable for a potential short- handed round-the-world voyage. This search coincided with my career shift to Technical Director of Cetrek, a marine electronics company in Poole which provided me with a lot of useful contacts in the marine industry.

Discovery and Performance

In 1998, I attended the Southampton Boat Show . There, I discovered the Rustler 36, displayed by Orion Marine, who had acquired the original Holman & Pye moulds.

The design was immediately striking: "It looked like a swan among ugly ducklings."

Holman & Pye designs are known for their exceptional beauty and good performance.

A trial sail in Falmouth confirmed its capabilities. Though my previous boats were all long-keel designs, which, while excellent in heavy weather, were generally not as fast as fin keel boats, the Rustler 36 maintained seaworthiness while achieving surprising speed due to its cut-back forefoot (reducing wetted surface). I find Drifter is surprisingly fast, often pulling away from boats considered quicker.

Purchase

I purchased the Rustler 36 in 1990. However, the standard Orion Marine finish and layout were not ideal for my intended single/short-handed, blue water cruising.

Therefore, I bought the Sailaway version (hull, engine, tanks, and teak deck), leaving the interior and rigging for custom completion. I brought the hull closer to home and assembled a team of shipwrights to build the bespoke, long-distance cruiser I envisioned.

ConstructionRigging and Deck Arrangement

• Keel-Stepped Mast: I firmly believe in the superior strength of a keel-stepped mast. Even though a deck stepped mast can have a brace to the Keel you still have strong lateral forces at the deck which can cause difficulty under adverse conditions.   To avoid the weaker, standard spliced extension, Z-Spar made, to special order,  a custom, single-piece extrusion, making the mast lighter and stronger.
• Inner Forestay: I added an inner forestay with a self-tacking boom and deck track. The inner forestay attaches to the mast about a foot from the top. This allows the backstay to take all the load of the inner forestay without having to have running backstays. This inner forestay is set with a highfield lever arrangement so that it can be easily removed and secured out of the way. This setup allows for quick deployment in heavy-weather, with the sheet running to an auxiliary cockpit winch for easy, short-handed control. A high aspect foresail completes the setup.
• Dual Backstays and Antenna: The original single backstay was upgraded to dual backstays to provide additional lateral support at the masthead and crucial redundancy. This arrangement also functions, coupled with a sintered gold ground plane, as an extremely efficient sloper antenna for both amateur and marine radio, inductively coupled for a longer effective electrical length that tunes down to the Amateur 80 meter band.
• Downwind Sail Handling: The Harken furling gear has twin foil tracks, enabling the setting of a second sail for twin downwind running, The original North Genoa could be re-cut for this purpose.
• Anchor: I chose a Delta anchor over the standard CQR due to its proven, better holding power for a given weight, and its non-articulated design, which makes it easier and safer to handle.

Running Rigging and Steering: Mechanical Advantage

• Powerful Winches: The Harken 44.2 Genoa winches are oversized and feature a unique roller on the self-tailing tang to significantly reduce friction, easing the load for a single crew.
• Custom Main Sheet Arrangement: I implemented a robust main sheet track with two travellers and a central winch. This allows for a highly versatile and powerful range of mechanical advantages (from 2:1 to 6:1) for trimming the main in any condition. I normally run this as 5:1 quickly convertible to 4:1 plus the winch if the wind increases. I freely admit that I copied this idea from a Swan 36   next to which I was moored some years ago
• Rack and Pinion Steering: We come now to the steering arrangement, which is the most controversial change. I started with a tiller as was normally fitted to the Rustler. I had had tillers on all my previous boats but I found, in the first season, that it just didn’t work very well. The Rustler, I feel, is a little too big for a tiller and, with the traveller running across the centre of the cockpit, it was difficult to move around. A binnacle in the centre is not much better. It restricts movement and, with a cable system, needs a large wheel. I then came across the Edson rack and pinion steering system which was easily fitted to the transom hung rudder. It has a very high mechanical advantage with only about 1 ¼ turns lock to lock. I once calculated that this is equivalent to a 12 foot long tiller. You can steer from behind, of course, but, normally, you steer from the side and use it just like a tiller. With such a high mechanical advantage, it is very easy to steer and it only requires moving the wheel a few inches when sailing normally.
• Ventilation: From the beginning, the Rustler deck mouldings have had a full width Dorade vent box as part of the housing for the sliding main hatch.. You can see the two water clearing slots either side of the housing on every Rustler. For some reason, this was never implemented by Orion. I implemented this design feature by fitting two brass cowl vents, exhausting through flush vents forward. This dramatically improves airflow, keeping the cabin cooler in summer and reducing condensation in winter.

Energy Management: Efficiency Over Capacity

Unlike the common approach of relying on large battery banks and engine charging, my system is optimised for sailing long passages with minimal engine use.

• Low Consumption Design: All lighting that is normally used when sailing (cabin and navigation) is LED. I designed the Cetrek autopilot which is adaptive, highly efficient and has been optimised to steer Drifter. The navigation computer and monitor were also custom-built for minimal draw. The fridge uses a holding plate, only requiring a  charge (about 15 AHr) every 8-12 hours.
• Self-Sustaining Power: When sailing, the vessel draws only 3 to 4 Amps with everything running. This normally can be supplied entirely by the wind and solar generators.
• Shore Charging: I opted against a 'smart charger' to maximise battery life. The initial charging voltage on these can be above 15 V which can be detrimental to the battery. Instead, a 350W power supply is set to charge at a constant, non-damaging voltage of just over 14 V. This supply also doubles as a suitable power source for high-current equipment, such as an Amateur Radio Transceiver, while in port. There are two solar panels, 50 W and 12 W. The 12 W panel is always attached to provide a trickle charge. This keeps the batteries topped up when the boat is left for long periods.
• Engine Charging: The system was upgraded in 2014 with a second alternator, providing dedicated charging for the domestic bank and redundancy, as either alternator can be easily rewired to charge both banks in an emergency. This also provides extra capacity to supply the hot water calorifier.

Catastrophic Failure Protection System

The electrical system was comprehensively upgraded around 2014 to a modern, failsafe standard, driven by the availability of compact MIDI and MEGA high-current fuses.This was done at the same time that the wind and solar generators were added.

• Cable upgrade. All cables were inspected and changed if necessary to make sure they could handle maximum possible load with a good safety margin.
• 100% Cable Protection: The new standard requires every source (batteries, alternators, wind, solar) to be fused within 7 inches (18 cm ) of the terminal. I am well within the standard on minor cables and exceeded this requirement on high-current cables by fabricating special fuse holders that connect directly to the battery terminals.
• Safety Priority: The purpose of this system is strictly to protect the supply cables from catastrophic failure. The fuses are carefully selected not to blow under normal load, but only in the event of a severe short circuit. A charged battery holds enormous energy, and this Catastrophic Failure Protection System ensures that energy can never be dumped into a shorted cable, eliminating the risk of cable damage or fire.

Accommodation and Joinery: A Wooden Boat Feel

My original desire was for a wooden boat. Since that was impractical for extended cruising, the goal for Drifter’s interior was to create the aesthetic and quality of a classic wooden vessel within the GRP hull. The shipwrights achieved this vision: inside, there is no visible fibreglass, plastic, or Formica—just wood, finished to the highest standard.

• Lightness and Contrast: The overhead is tongue-and-groove Cedar (chosen for lightness), while the coachroof and forward cabin sides use Sycamore veneer to provide a light, contrasting effect.
• Teak Joinery: High-end finishes include pattern-matched teak veneer for upper doors and panels, and solid teak for seats, berths, and backrests, accented with contrasting inlays.
• Custom Table: The most striking feature is the central, fold-down teak table. It features utility compartments and hand-finished fiddles. Crucially, the central fiddles are removable, allowing a full-sized Admiralty Chart to be laid out flat for serious passage planning.
• Contoured Floors: The laid solid teak floors are contoured to fit precisely with all the surrounding furniture. I have never seen this on another boat and it is striking.

Ergonomic Layout and Details

The accommodation layout is bespoke, maintaining the general flow but implementing significant ergonomic changes learned from years of cruising.

• Main Cabin Space: The key change was reversing the chart table and reconfiguring the double berth seat. This simple change opened up the main cabin by several feet, greatly enhancing the feeling of space. This was a layout I had on my Nicholson 32 which I had found very successful.
• Practicality: This new configuration created space for a large wet locker adjacent to the companionway, preventing damp gear from entering the main cabin. Angled sections on the steps provide stable footing when heeled.
• Safety and Comfort: I paid meticulous attention to handholds. In addition to the obvious ones, I installed finger rails that run the full length of the cabin on both sides, very useful for maintaining balance in rough conditions.
• Stowage: In addition to standard lockers, I had several drawers installed, including four opposite the heads and three in the chart table side. These feature flush-routed handles for safety and excellent compartmentalised stowage.
• Heads: A reliable Lavac toilet was installed. A valve arrangement allows its standard Whale Mk V pump to also evacuate the shower sump, creating a neat and dependable installation.

Conclusion

I believe what I had in mind when I started this project was, as one of my friends once said jokingly, to build a Stradivarius boat that I could sail around the world.   I believe that through the careful combination of proven design, custom engineering, and exceptional joinery, we achieved precisely that with Drifter II.

 

 

Disclaimer

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.