Sigma 33

[benemly]

I am thinking of getting a Sigma 33, mainly for one design racing, but also some cruising. Does anyone have any comments on these boats or particular problems I should look out for?

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[webcraft]

There is a cruising version of the Sigma which is a masthead rig (standard 33 is fractional). The 33C (for Cruising) is an excellent cruising boat for a very reasonable price, but harder to find.

Accommodation is fairly basic in these days of aft cabins and en-suite heads - essentially five berth (2 + 2 + a quarterberth)

The fractional rig racing version is what you will be after however. Again, a nice boat. My only negative experience was when the mainsail jammed UP in a rising wind - sailed onto a mooring then (eventually) persuaded a crewmember to go up the mast and undo the shackle. Wire halliards inside the mast had crossed and jammed - apparently not an uncommon problem - so would replace them with standard string.

Also - obviously - it will have been raced so look out for hard wear and signs of abuse.


- Nick


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[john_morris_uk]

We just sold our Sigma 33 and I have nothing but good feelings about her. Positive points are that they sail very very well. Can't comment on halyards jamming - we never experienced it and in two years we sailed from Ireland to Solent to all the French coast from Cherbourg through the channel Isles round Brest and South to the Morbihan. The only reason we sold is that the children are getting older (13 &11) and the accomodation is limited.

Things to look for.

Leaking chain plates - Sigmas (especially raced ones) have high rig tensions and the chain plates invariably end up leaking.

The hull-deck joint opens in some and produces leaks. (Not catastrophic - its the mastic that gives way not the join but I don't like wet insides of boats!)

Engines on the older boats are getting old - we re-engined our Sigma with a Nanni 3.75.

There's precious little insulation on the cool box on the early ones.

Choose carefully - there are some very very tired ones about. Plenty to choose from and you'll soon get an idea of which ones are good or not.

Get a survey - the hulls are not impervious to water.

Ours is still here in Westcountry and I am sure the new owner might agree to you having a look at it if you want a tour with things to look for.

pm me if you want to talk about things Sigma

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[Twister_Ken]

Worth looking (or getting a surveyor to do it) at the keel/hull joint. They don't take kindly to nudging the bottom, which can happen when a racing fleet is trying to cheat the tide by sailing in the shallows.

There are lovely boats to sail, though, very well behaved.

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[SteveB_Sigma33]

Well as you may have guessed by the sign in name I've got one.

Fantastic boat, brought mine back through a force 9 in the channel in November and she came through with flying colours. The only thing that let me down was the weld on the D ring for the headsail tack! It let go but one sail tie frig soon fixed that problem.

Never had a halyard problem or any leaking, but mine was made in 1988 so maybe it's something I should check as she ages.

Just completed a major refit. Rewired and replumbed the engine this year, but that was only because a split in a hose off to the calorifier caused the main wiring block to corode. Checked all keel bolts they were as good as the day they were put in.

The only major problem I've had was with the P bracket. It seems water had egressed into the wooden block that was glassed into the hull and held the bracket in place. Over time this had broken down and I had slight movement in the bracket which caused vibration and noise. Just had it reglassed back in and hopefully will not have anymore problems.

If you have any questions you can also PM me.


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[Ruffles]

John,

I used to sail in a non cruising Sigma 33 with the original volvo (MD2002?) engine. The owner had loads of trouble with it but was reluctant to replace it because the class rules specified that engine. Presumably a lighter engine would improve the performance of the boat under sail. Is that so? Though he didn't race himself he would presumably be unable to sell it to someone who did.

Rob.

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[Innes_Ker]

Great boats for cruiser racing. I owned one (Retribution) for nearly ten years and had enormous fun racing in the Solent and at the annual championships (twice in the Clyde, twice at Cork, once in Dublin). Lots of collisions, very little damage, so I can vouch for the toughness of the hulls. Several major broaches, so ditto for strength of rig (replace with dyform every five years if racing). Original Volvo engine never missed a beat. Grounded a few times but never had any hull leaks. On the other hand the windows DID leak pretty badly and were resistant to re-sealing effectively.
Watch out for wobbly stanchions / bent toerails as you need to remove interior furniture to access all the nuts and this can cost a couple of thousand per side.
By modern standards the accommodation is tight and spartan, which is probably why my wife never stayed out.
Sailing characteristics are great, you can take them anywhere (and find another 33 there when you arrive).
The Class association is pretty strong, mainly for racing, so do check out the website www.sigma33.org.uk and speak to the excellent class secretary, Jo Chugg (0208 942 1043).

They hold their values well.
Go for it!


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[nct1]

Good sturdy boats these, I am told they race well (though have never raced mine), accomodation good for 4 on a weekend cruise, the cockpit gets a bit crowded with 5+

Keel area should appear to be dry, as anything less than F6 should not add water.

Locker space very inefficient, modern 29 footers will give more space.

I had to have to P bracket reglassed, but it does not cost much to do that.

You need to check the rudder bearings, as the rudder is difficult to remove out of the water, needing a pit to be under the rudder, though to date, this has not been a problem on mine.

My strong advice is view at least 3, out of the water, before buying, you need to spot a good one from a so-so one.

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[john_morris_uk]

You are correct to a point. The boat must not float above her marks with the weight of engine etc. Some Sigmas have lead weights added just inside the engine bay to compensate.

I did wonder why all the other Sigmas in Cork Week floated higher than we did even when we had destored from crossing the Irish Sea! When we replaced the engine we were up to their marks instantly. There has been a great deal of controversy with Sigmas being reweighed and being given new ratings in the last couple of years.

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[jonjo]

Lots of good advice in this thread apart from a misleading statement that the engine cannot be changed without invalidating the class one-design rules.

In addition:

Look out for an old rusting galvanized steel fuel tank.

Mast flexing can wear the spreader sockets allowing the spreaders to move too much in the horizontal plane.

Long slit leaking windows are a real pain but in late models the windows were split in two sections with a GRP post between.

Look for cracked of bandaged box sections supporting aft end of keel and also for external stress crazing at the foreword end of the keel caused by a corresponding downward tug of the keel during a grounding incident.

The stanchions often corrode within the alloy bases which then crack, removing one of these can take hours of tedious hacking away of the sold mass.

Finally it is worthwhile un stepping the mast during your early years of ownership to make sure a tiny metal lug in the deck stepped mast foot casting is not wearing thin. This metal lug (finger nail size) stops the mast base sliding foreword or backward and because the halyard blocks are mounted within the mast foot this is effectively tugged backwards with the combined main and genoa halyard load.

Otherwise Sigma 33s are a decent honest cruiser racer design with an established second hand market.

As with all yachts of this age spend some working out the true value as this can vary enormously. Put together a spreadsheet that depreciates a 2 pot engine to zero value at 20 years, electronics over 10 years old contribute little to the value, then do some detailed maths on rigging replacement age/costs and disregard any sails over 10 years old apart from the heavy spinnaker.

Finally visit loads of yachts, eventually you know which one is right after a few minutes aboard and then you will pay far too much because decent 20 year old second-hand yachts are such a rare find!

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