carter 33

[Phoenix of Hamble]

What can you wise and sage folks tell me, good, bad, ugly, or otherwise about this class of boat?

What are its foibles, and what are its strengths?

How does she sail?, and what is her seaworthiness?

Last, but not least, does anyone know what her normal weaknesses are in terms of condition?

Many thanks...

 

[sailorman]

built like a brick out-house
conservative early 70s design by Dick Carter
very good sea boat
others will know more watch this space
& good luck

 

[jerryat]

Hi NAS,

I sailed one of these belonging to a friend of mine for a few trips, mostly nipping across channel from Plymouth for the weekend. As mentioned, heavily built and not too nippy in light winds, but not too bad in general, though wouldn't be my personal choice as they are getting a bit long in the tooth now and I reckon there are better boats for the money. I felt they were a bit dark and dingy below, though that might not be true of them all.

One thing though really does need watching. We noticed a good deal of what appeared to be 'slack' in the tiller that gradually got worse and worse. When the boat was laid up the following winter, the owner discovered that the rudder assembly was in two parts. Because of the contoured shape of the rudder blade itself (which follows the complex 'fairing' shape of the hull) it has to be offered up into position first, then the top section of rudder shaft has to be fed down the rudder tube from the top and locate in a square hole in the top of the blade assembly.

All well and good when the assembly is new, but over the years the constant 'working' of the squared end of the rudder shaft had gradually 'rounded' the square hole in the rudder, hence the sloppy feel to the helm. My friend got some engineering colleagues to modify the blade hole (with something beefier I believe) but as I was busy with my own boat, I don't know the details of the mod. One thing is certain though, if the mod hadn't been done, the joint between the two halves would have got worse and worse, with the ultimate possiblitiy of failure.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers Jerry

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Thanks guys,

useful feedback... I have a couple to look at.... narrowing down my list gradually.....