pacific 38 yacht

Review of Pacific 38

Basic specs..

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

The boat is equipped with 378.0 liter fresh water capacity.

The Pacific 38 is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

The Pacific 38 is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.82 - 1.92 meter (5.97 - 6.27 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Pacific 38 is 1.75, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.4 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Pacific 38 is about 210 kg/cm, alternatively 1178 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 210 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1178 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

What is a Ballast Ratio?

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

Maintenance

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 36m 2 (387 ft 2 ). Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Pacific 38 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us . Criticism helps us to improve.

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• Yachting Monthly's Scuttlebutt

Pacific 38 (P38), does anyone know this boat?

• Thread starter Bartvh
• Start date 25 May 2017
• 25 May 2017

Hi all, Not sure this is the right forum, but OK. I am looking at a 1976 (yep...) Pacific 38. Apparently it's a NZ boat, but the mold was sent to Australia and there they made some of the boats as well. That's all I could find about the boat, and it kind of doesn't feel right, also because the pics I saw of different Pacific 38 boats of roughly the same year looked quite different from each other. Does anyone know how sturdy these boats are, what to look out for, are they in the range of the Jean/Ben/Bav or higher? Lastly, I found this http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=6446 but not completely filled out, I'm especially interested in the Disp./Len Thanks a lot! B  

Well-known member

From the brief details given that is nothing like a modern boat - unsurprising as it was designed in 1972. It seems to be a heavy displacement "traditional" style boat with a very small sailplane for the displacement. Expect the Displ/len to be in the mid 300s which with the SA/D of 14 indicates not a performance vessel! The ballast ratio also suggests a typical slack narrower beamed hull form common at the time. Probably promoted as a long distance cruiser at the time - particularly with the name. Visions of coral fringed lagoons!  

"... it kind of doesn't feel right, also because the pics I saw of different Pacific 38 boats of roughly the same year looked quite different from each other.." You could be getting mixed up with the American, Pacific Seacraft boats. I don't know anything about the boats but the underwater sections, in profile, look a lot like a number of fin and skeg boats of the time.....S & S etc. I guess you have seen this: https://www.tradeaboat.co.nz/reviews/0603/pacific-38-offshore-cruiserracer  

Fr J Hackett

doug748 said: "... it kind of doesn't feel right, also because the pics I saw of different Pacific 38 boats of roughly the same year looked quite different from each other.." You could be getting mixed up with the American, Pacific Seacraft boats. I don't know anything about the boats but the underwater sections, in profile, look a lot like a number of fin and skeg boats of the time.....S & S etc. I guess you have seen this: https://www.tradeaboat.co.nz/reviews/0603/pacific-38-offshore-cruiserracer Click to expand...

Active member

Hi The P38 is a common vessel here in NZ. There were two different deck moldings. One was a standard cabin top with a two level height for the coachroof. The other carried the height of the coach roof out to the hull leaving a flush deck, more room below, but not as pleasing on the eye. By todays standard they are slow ands small below decks. They have a beautiful classic line narrow hull and overhanging bow and counter stern with pinched ends. The solid build and capable fin and skegged rudder hull design made them a good offshore vessel. Performance is what you would expect for a vessel of that era and style. I always saw them as a stretched sadler 32. Hope that helps  

• 27 May 2017

Thanks, all, for your answers. I looked at comparable boats of that time and saw that the Displ/len for similar boats was in the mid 200's, not mid 300's (which would be a bit extreme?). Granted, though, I couldn't find the LWL, which makes comparing difficult. It's actually not so heavy... More or less a HR: http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=6446 If you say that this boat's performance would be 'as expected for a boat of this era', what max speed would we be talking about? Yes, it looks solid, but how solid...? Hmm... It's a bit strange there is so little known about this boat or it's Australian name: Compass 38. Update: found more: http://compass38.blogspot.co.id/ As expected, displ/len is 258. But hull speed comes in at a surprising 7.42 knots? Anyway, interesting data, for what it's worth, any feedback appreciated Thanks!  

About 7.5 tons is not over heavy for 38ft. On the sail area side of the equation, best look at the actual rig, as cruisers do tend to end up with smaller rigs over time. The original rig is described as 'high aspect'. It seems many were raced offshore. Doesn't sound like a dog to me. 'Max Speed'? depends on how big a spinnaker and how hard you try.  

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1982 pacific 38.

Is this the BEST Pacific 38 on the market? We definitely think so!!

Strong, sturdy and beautiful- If you’re looking for a comfortable cruiser to keep you and the whole family safe, come and have a look at this Allen Smith designed and built Pacific 38. She has beautiful lines that reflect her pedigree.

The beautiful classic line, narrow hull and overhanging bow and counter stern with pinched ends screams perfection.

The solid build and capable fin and skeg rudder hull design make her a very good offshore vessel.

Performance is what you would expect for a vessel of that era and style.

Don’t miss your opportunity to own this quality hand crafted vessel.

Contact Aaron on 0224245426 or email [email protected]

Watch videos about this boat on our youtube channel

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• Sailboat Guide

Pacific 38 is a 38 ′ 0 ″ / 11.6 m monohull sailboat designed by Claude Allen Smith and built by Smith's Boatyard (NZ) between 1972 and 1982.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

Molds were also exported to Australia were an additional 50 hulls were built known as the COMPASS 38. See COMPASS 38.

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