Tradewind 35 - info please!

E39mad said:
Rustler 36 and Vancouver 34c similar boats and whilst still heavy are said to sail better IF looking for alternatives.
Click to expand...

Can vouch for the Rustler 36. As it happened on the same sail when I was able to judge the speed of the Tradewind, I also sailed alongside a new Rustler 36. The latter was distinctly faster to windward in 15kn of wind - maybe as much as 1.5kn or 25%. And I dont think anyone would accuse the Rustler of being a flighty lightweight boat.
 
dulcibella said:
Yes, the Tradewind looks the biz but is slow - hopelessly so in light conditions. Some other long-keelers of similar length, such as the Rustler and Vancouver, perform much better.
Click to expand...

Talking to the people that are in the know, even this boat (Rustler) has its problems, so I am told, ie rudder and shaft noise .
At the end of the day the TW 35 is a cursing boat, I don't wish to go fast, I want comfort and to enjoy what days sail brings, be it for weeks or months.
This fascination with going fast by what , an extra knot or two !
The Tradewind 35 is a certain horse for a certain course if I may put it that way, without offending anybody. :)
 
Tradewind33 said:
Talking to the people that are in the know, even this boat (Rustler) has its problems, so I am told, ie rudder and shaft noise .
At the end of the day the TW 35 is a cursing boat, I don't wish to go fast, I want comfort and to enjoy what days sail brings, be it for weeks or months.
This fascination with going fast by what , an extra knot or two !
The Tradewind 35 is a certain horse for a certain course if I may put it that way, without offending anybody. :)
Click to expand...

You might have a look at a Rival 36, not a long keeler but a long fin and skeg: very sound and strong boat, great quality, great seakeeping and the fastest of the Rival series. Have a look at roa.org
 
Tradewind 35

Hi Laser 45. Lots of good info from the panel. If you search on Tradewind 35 on the Scuttlebutt YM forum you will find tons of comments on Tradewinds when we were debating the various attractions of this long keel breed. I have also put videos on You tube of my 35 under sail - (I am the Irish suspect refered to above). Try youtube search on "Tradewind 35 under sail" "Hydrovane on Tradewind 35" or most recent one "White Nothe".
One tends to find that owners of these type of boats love em - similar with Rustler, Vancouver 34, Saltram/Saga etc. The Tradewind is a little heavier in touch than say the Rustler - I was able to directly compare them when alongside one - the Rustler has a flat shallower cockpit and the saloon is all at one level - in comparison to the TW where one steps down three times from the (deeper) cockpit to get down into the depths of the boat. More light and a view out from the Rustler and as a lighter boat with less wetted area she will be faster given same sail area. A TW with a relatively small yankee and tiny staysail is going to easily be overhauled by something lighter such as sloop with a huge foresail. But that is not to say that if you fly a Spinnaker (pickies on earlier thread) or a lightweight genoa then you won't crack up some sparkling performance. The main reason for having a TW is of course not light weather sailing or marina parkng prowess but looking after a short handed crew on passage in all weathers. The cutter rig matched to long keel with tiny windows to keep the sea out makes owners very happy but clearly not a boat for the mass market. The Sea Cadets have two Blondecell completed 35s. By far the most prolific final builders were Tideways in Salcombe - Pleiades was one of the last boats the guys there built before they died. Blondecell figures were 78 in total 33/35s I believe - hence they are quite scarce and many are across the oceans. Blondecell were excellent grp specialists and also made the Hawke dingy. Boats were only part of their work. I think they got over-extended doing cruise ship interior mouldings and ceased trading a decade ago. The acknowledged expert on all matters Tradewind was John Butler who for many years marketed them second hand. He was a fine yacht designer himself and had extensive information on most of the Tradewinds ever built. Sadly he died earlier this year. I have not sailed a 39 or a 33 but talking to John Butler, owners of the 33 (one of whom had circumnavigated in a 33) and the Blondecell guys themselves the concensus is that John Rock perfected the line with the 35. Mouldings - from all my contacts are judged to have been excellent but I don't have any technical spec. Happy to answer any general questions here or pm me.
a1039.jpg

Cheers,
Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5
 
The late John Butler.

Pleiades said:
Hi Laser 45. Lots of good info from the panel. If you search on Tradewind 35 on the Scuttlebutt YM forum you will find tons of comments on Tradewinds when we were debating the various attractions of this long keel breed. I have also put videos on You tube of my 35 under sail - (I am the Irish suspect refered to above). Try youtube search on "Tradewind 35 under sail" "Hydrovane on Tradewind 35" or most recent one "White Nothe".
One tends to find that owners of these type of boats love em - similar with Rustler, Vancouver 34, Saltram/Saga etc. The Tradewind is a little heavier in touch than say the Rustler - I was able to directly compare them when alongside one - the Rustler has a flat shallower cockpit and the saloon is all at one level - in comparison to the TW where one steps down three times from the (deeper) cockpit to get down into the depths of the boat. More light and a view out from the Rustler and as a lighter boat with less wetted area she will be faster given same sail area. A TW with a relatively small yankee and tiny staysail is going to easily be overhauled by something lighter such as sloop with a huge foresail. But that is not to say that if you fly a Spinnaker (pickies on earlier thread) or a lightweight genoa then you won't crack up some sparkling performance. The main reason for having a TW is of course not light weather sailing or marina parkng prowess but looking after a short handed crew on passage in all weathers. The cutter rig matched to long keel with tiny windows to keep the sea out makes owners very happy but clearly not a boat for the mass market. The Sea Cadets have two Blondecell completed 35s. By far the most prolific final builders were Tideways in Salcombe - Pleiades was one of the last boats the guys there built before they died. Blondecell figures were 78 in total 33/35s I believe - hence they are quite scarce and many are across the oceans. Blondecell were excellent grp specialists and also made the Hawke dingy. Boats were only part of their work. I think they got over-extended doing cruise ship interior mouldings and ceased trading a decade ago. The acknowledged expert on all matters Tradewind was John Butler who for many years marketed them second hand. He was a fine yacht designer himself and had extensive information on most of the Tradewinds ever built. Sadly he died earlier this year. I have not sailed a 39 or a 33 but talking to John Butler, owners of the 33 (one of whom had circumnavigated in a 33) and the Blondecell guys themselves the concensus is that John Rock perfected the line with the 35. Mouldings - from all my contacts are judged to have been excellent but I don't have any technical spec. Happy to answer any general questions here or pm me.
a1039.jpg

Cheers,
Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5
Click to expand...

Robin, thank you for putting it so succintly as you always do regarding these great boats.
I was so sorry to hear about John Butlers passing, I had long conversations with him only a few months back over ' Samphire of the Dart' that he was selling.
What a wonderful man to talk to, full of information and interesting anecdotes.
A very sad loss.
 
Having had heavy boats for the last 25yrs (Hillyard, nic 36 and now a conway) I always feel that the key to good passage times are good sails and especially some good light sails. Just added a big light No1 to the conway (from a fisher37). The key adavntages to being a bit slower would be the lovely motion at sea that will let you cook and live and make you feel it would be easy to carry on to the other sided of the pond. The need to not have to get up early and have breakfast before heading out so a bacon butty can be enjoyed enroute. Even my conway is more bouncy than the hillyard or Nic. Thought that does not answer your question and I know nothing of there build but it must be sound with such a simple construction technique but I guess it will be old fashioned resins so will be prone to some osmossis. The main areas I would also want to check would be chain plates and how fitted (heavy boat that needs pushiing wll need a strong rig) and the mast step/main bulkheads. Walk away from anything with in mast reefing. They look a lovely boat and hope you find a good one.
 
John Butler.

Hi '33, thanks.
John Butler - C.Eng. MRINA worked out of Dartmouth. He came onboard Pleiades for a natter hen I was down that way. I heard that he died a few months ago. I think he designed the Swift 18 and Westerley 28 and a class which did well in Canada. A nice guy and very knowledgeable. He also used to run a successful sail company with Pete Sanders of Sanders Sails in Lymington. I have been unable to find out what happened and don't know his family details. Does anyone on the Forum have any more info?
I will maybe give Pete a ring in Lymington and see if he kept in touch. John's archive work on all things Tradewind would be of interest.

Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5
 
Pleiades said:
I have not sailed a 39 or a 33 but talking to John Butler, owners of the 33 (one of whom had circumnavigated in a 33) and the Blondecell guys themselves the concensus is that John Rock perfected the line with the 35. Mouldings - from all my contacts are judged to have been excellent but I don't have any technical spec. Happy to answer any general questions here or pm me.
a1039.jpg

Cheers,
Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5
Click to expand...

I seem to remember reading something to the effect that the 33 handled poorly because of the relative positions of the centre of effort and the centre of buoyancy and this was the reason for modifying the design and making the 35. 33s were modified with a sprit to move the foresail forward to counteract the problem.
 
Biggest change was to the rudder - more upright and a more efficient triangular shape with a greater area lower down rather than the older style half moon shape. However club member who has a 33 reckons that it handles well with the original rudder (and bowsprit). When the original rudder fell apart he mad a replacement exactly the same shape as the original.

Moving the rudder aft effectively lengthened the keel and drawing out the bow moved the forestay forward without needing a bowsprit, although some do have one.
 
laser45 said:
Hi all,

I've been looking at the Tradewind 35 as a potential candidate in my long quest for The Perfect Yacht, and like what I see! However, the current manufacturer (http://www.lionclassicboats.com/index.php?lang=en) gives scanty information on the history of the design, which I'm interested in (apparently they used to be built in the UK). If anyone knows anything about them, has sailed one, has formed an opinion etc. etc. it would be great to hear it. In particular, if anyone knows anything about the hull layup (a personal obsession!) it would be good to find out. A D/L ratio of 513 (wow!) should indicate a strong hull, but not necessarily... Be interesting to find out about sailing characteristics too...

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I went out with Para in his in the solent and somewhat freakishly the wind touched 56knots. Boat was absolutely fine, leaned over a bit obviously, and er a few fenders flew away which was my fault, otherwise all fine. Went back to gosport and next day whizzed over to cowes, again all fine, i tink we may have taken the advantage over a certain benneteau 331.

Downside - this is the origin of the tla “MAB” = manky auld boat
 
Pleiades said:
Sail a bit like this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qQ9l0W7hmg

I pass absolutely no adverse comment implied or express on the large awb motoring on the same course to windward in a Force 6, or the yacht motoring along behind me in the light winds - both Weymouth Bay last weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfFrBo__nJk

Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5
Click to expand...

" I pass absolutely no adverse comment implied or express on the large awb motoring on the same course to windward in a Force 6" :D:D Are you related to Sir Humphrey by any chance? Or work for HMG?

IMO, the video of the sea state says a 5 at most, but that said almost any boat from a Wayfarer dinghy upwards will cope with a 6 in Weymouth bay so maybe the AWB was charging his batteries or maybe he had discovered that the quickest way directly upwind is always to motor rather than to tack or maybe his swmbo is like mine and bans sailing with the mast at more than 10 deg of heel. Lots of reasons I guess.

But isnt sailing a Tradewind on the offchance you will get a spot of serious bad weather a bit like driving a Defender in Chelsea on the offchance that the satnav will send you down a farm track? IE slow, cramped, and without amenities? On our one day of snow per year, I always see load of faux 4x4 SUVs driving up and down our road , happy smiles on the drivers face, using their 4wd for real for the first time in 12 months. The rest of the year it wastes fuel and handles badly. You might just think they were posing but I couldnt comment on that.

In these days of 24 hour accurate weather forecasts and with lots of harbours and marinas around, there really is no reason why the large majority of us should ever experience an 8 at sea. And that is feasible in an AWB anyway.

P.S. And I pass absolutely no adverse comment implied or express on the owners of Tradewind boats. :D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top