Contessa 32, are they really that good?

[Adios]

If you want to spend your sailing life in an ocean going original Land Rover Defender then have a C32. Maybe you fancy a black and white TV with three channels. Then there’s the 21st century which most of us live in.

Thats a bit extreme isn't it? Cheap to produce thin dish hulls with bolt through rudder, bolt on keel and bolt through saildrive. Progress in cheaper production. I guess the real difference in 21st century is now that we have EPIRBs, Sat phones and better liferafts it doesn't matter if the hull snaps in half (Vendee globe anyone?), the keel falls off (Beneteau anyone?) or the rudder bends when an Orca nudges it. It might be a bit less vital to be able to keep going like a Land Rover these days but the merit of the seakindly and well found boat is not less in fact as someone rightly said with climate changing to more extremes these days the chances of unexpectedly needing it has gone up.

 

[matt1]

I sailed past a Co32 and a 31' modern AWB in the summer (can't recall the make; may have been a Hanse or Jeanneau). Pointed the CO32 out to my GF as an example of how design had changed over the years. I think it was around a F3 and the Contessa was hobby horsing and not going very well at all in the typical Solent chop. On the other hand, the 31' AWB with plum stem and long LWL was steady as a church - level fore and aft - and just slicing though the water. Fair enough, maybe it was just the particular wave length / profile didn't suit the Contessa but I know which boat I'd rather have been on in those conditions. As I said earlier, I'd rather be on the contessa in a gale but I'm not so sure I agree with all the "sails beautifully" comments (certainly not in all conditions). Looks beautiful for sure though

 

[matt1]

That had a lot to do with Willy Ker as skipper.

As did the Sigma 33 which escaped that Fastnet edition with a just a broken window....with David Thomas helming

 

[Stemar]

As I said earlier, I'd rather be on the contessa in a gale

Call me a wimp, but the only boat I want to be on in a gale is the Victory

Or, at a pinch, the Prospect of Whitby

 

[doug748]

That had a lot to do with Willy Ker as skipper.

Just a small point of order here awol it was Willie Ker's son in charge during the '79 Fastnet. I don't think that crew ever got the credit they deserved they were young, fit, fearless, single minded and kept racing. The ability of the Contessa to keep going upwind in almost any conditions helped

It's been a good thread so far, shame if the overtaking anecdotes and the "my boat is best" crowd take it over.

.

 

[awol]

Just a small point of order here awol it was Willie Ker's son in charge during the '79 Fastnet. I don't think that crew ever got the credit they deserved they were young, fit, fearless, single minded and kept racing. The ability of the Contessa to keep going upwind in almost any conditions helped

It's been a good thread so far, shame if the overtaking anecdotes and the "my boat is best" crowd take it over.

.

My apologies to Alan. It was indeed he who skippered Assent.

 

[Birdseye]

Went down the yard yesterday to find a Contessa 32 has been plonked next to me. I've seen these boats many times before but never gave them much thought.
This one has made me stop and look, the underwater profile is really pretty and looking at these boats in more detail they are very well regarded.

Are they as good as people say and do they stand up in the 21st century?

Not that I'm planning to sell my boat but never say never....

A Contessa 32 is a contemporary of the Austin Allegro. We have made progress since then.

 

[Stemar]

A Contessa 32 is a contemporary of the Austin Allegro. We have made progress since then.

A little unkind, perhaps. There were also things like this around.

Or this

I can't disagree about the progress, though.

 

[Adios]

A Contessa 32 is a contemporary of the Austin Allegro. We have made progress since then.

Also a contemporary of the Aston Martin Vantage. Progress wasn't really needed since then.

 

[Adios]

A little unkind, perhaps. There were also things like this around.

lol same idea but did we only make mud brown cars in the 70s?

 

[Stemar]

No, we also did

and

Oh, and beige

There were some nice colours as well, but they weren't as fashionable

 

[ryanroberts]

A Morris traveller is more my aesthetic apparently. But I need to avoid the mushrooms growing on the wood trim.

 

[doug748]

That's nice. A virtual Christmas card from Jeremy Rogers, with a snap of the latest boat launched in the summer:







You need some serious folding money to buy a new one though.


.

 

[Zagato]

Can we get back to Nicholson 43's... if only something like that was made 10' shorter, sorry the Contessa is not as gorgeous...

 

[Tomahawk]

My first experience of the second stage of seasick *** was on a Con32.


*** that's where you realise you are not going to die but you so much wish you could die.. I was lying incapacitated in my bunk needing a piss., It was touch and go if I could do the biz before I puked ...

 

[Zagato]

Thats a bit extreme isn't it? Cheap to produce thin dish hulls with bolt through rudder, bolt on keel and bolt through saildrive. Progress in cheaper production. I guess the real difference in 21st century is now that we have EPIRBs, Sat phones and better liferafts it doesn't matter if the hull snaps in half (Vendee globe anyone?), the keel falls off (Beneteau anyone?) or the rudder bends when an Orca nudges it. It might be a bit less vital to be able to keep going like a Land Rover these days but the merit of the seakindly and well found boat is not less in fact as someone rightly said with climate changing to more extremes these days the chances of unexpectedly needing it has gone up.

It's more about accommodation than gorgeous sheer lines and sailing ability sadly. Some modern boats are like a Barbican apartment with a boat shaped around it, fitted kitchen, double bed, square windows, curtains and walls so vertical you can hang pictures up, it suits the Everyman person anyway.

 

[sjdtuk]

Going back on topic (ish) I've always thought that my own boat is a bit like a grown-up Co32. We have a Nic 43... pretty much the same shape but stretched a bit. Same underwater profile too.

Advantages:
Good looks
Sails brilliantly upwind
Amazing in a big blow - F8/9 is relatively stress-free in most conditions with the right sail plan
Great view from down below - you can see out (but might be a bit frustrating if you're 6'1" or above as you will get a cricked neck)
Wherever you go you will receive compliments on how good your boat looks even if the skipper is a 5'8" lardass

Disadvantages:
Very little room (small stowage, small tankage, both diesel and water)
Quite cramped/friendly on the berth front
Big headsail so needs muscle
Absolutely soaks the helm when sailing upwind in F5+
Heels like you wouldn't believe - but sails all the faster for it as WL length increases - she is in her element when on her ear

In short - if the weather gets a bit frisky I'm not sure there is a boat I'd rather be on.

View attachment 105450

I've got a 45. Have to agree. Quite wet, very good in the rough stuff. Still goes well in light airs with a big head sail.

 

[Adios]

It's more about accommodation than gorgeous sheer lines and sailing ability sadly. Some modern boats are like a Barbican apartment with a boat shaped around it, fitted kitchen, double bed, square windows, curtains and walls so vertical you can hang pictures up, it suits the Everyman person anyway.

A lot of people use boats as holiday homes and max out at F4 for moving house. The less people use boats the less usable they become so we're into a vicious circle now. I still remember the first time I saw daylight shining clearly through the hull of a Bavaria's lazarette and it occurred to me things might be going in the wrong direction. Nice vanity unit in heads though.

 

[TernVI]

A lot of people use boats as holiday homes and max out at F4 for moving house. The less people use boats the less usable they become so we're into a vicious circle now. I still remember the first time I saw daylight shining clearly through the hull of a Bavaria's lazarette and it occurred to me things might be going in the wrong direction. Nice vanity unit in heads though.

If you can't see light through unpainted white grp it's usually because it's Not Very Good.

 

[Adios]

I sailed past a Co32 and a 31' modern AWB in the summer (can't recall the make; may have been a Hanse or Jeanneau). Pointed the CO32 out to my GF as an example of how design had changed over the years. I think it was around a F3 and the Contessa was hobby horsing and not going very well at all in the typical Solent chop. On the other hand, the 31' AWB with plum stem and long LWL was steady as a church - level fore and aft - and just slicing though the water. Fair enough, maybe it was just the particular wave length / profile didn't suit the Contessa but I know which boat I'd rather have been on in those conditions. As I said earlier, I'd rather be on the contessa in a gale but I'm not so sure I agree with all the "sails beautifully" comments (certainly not in all conditions). Looks beautiful for sure though

I guess with all the ballast in a small lump hanging off a very long fin a couple of meters under the centre of the boat it will reduce pitching in small seas, while a boat with fine ends and ballast spread more evenly along the length won't so much. And as you say if the wave length is just wrong it can set it in motion. But at least it will be a pleasant motion. When the conditions don't suit the AWB it will slam more readily which is when people get thrown around and it takes up energy to hang on. And even the bracing yourself waiting for the next slam is stressful and tiring. Turns on engine, motors back to the marina.