Design and Construction
The Alberg 35 shows a handsome sheer that was flattish for its day but reads as old-fashioned and springy next to modern hulls, with a low rounded cabin trunk, slightly raised doghouse, and long overhangs fore and aft that are almost perfectly balanced anchor. The hull is a heavy, uncored fiberglass layup — not especially stiff or strong for its weight, but easy to repair and relatively foolproof. The ballast is a single chunk of lead dropped into the hollow fiberglass keel molding, and the rudder is a wooden blade bolted to a heavy bronze rod shaped to the aft edge of the prop aperture. Decks are fiberglass with balsa core; early boats were frequently built with edge-grain rather than end-grain balsa, a detail with consequences discussed below. The long-keel hull carries 5,300 pounds of internal lead ballast against 12,600 pounds displacement on a 9-foot 8-inch beam and 24-foot waterline.
Rig and Handling
The boat was offered as both a masthead sloop and a yawl, with simple, fairly heavy aluminum masts; the sloop and yawl share that mast character. The standard main boom was varnished spruce with roller reefing, and the rig originally carried no mainsheet traveler. With a rudder canted well forward, the Alberg 35 can take a lot of helm to hold course when reaching in a breeze, and the same forward rudder plus prop-in-aperture layout means she backs down poorly. Owners nonetheless report that she tracks well, a quality missing in many newer designs. The narrow, slack hull heels very quickly despite a 42-percent ballast-displacement ratio, and will be sailing at close to 30 degrees of heel in 15 knots true upwind; yet the narrow, deep form yields a very good range of positive stability — about 135 degrees — and an easy motion in a seaway anchor. A large, low-aspect-ratio mainsail does not help the weather helm. By current standards she is slow for her length, with a typical PHRF of 198, though an Alberg 35 took top honors in a Puget Sound winter-spring series and the boat Adelante repeated as first-place winner at the Maple Bay, B.C. regatta.
Accommodations
Below, the Alberg 35 was built with two interior arrangements: a traditional layout and a dinette arrangement, both with large forward cabins containing V-berths, a hanging locker, a bureau, and drawers under the berths, lit and vented by two bronze-framed opening ports and a hatch. Headroom runs 6 feet 0 inches in the forward stateroom and 6 feet 4 inches in the main cabin; berths are 6 feet 4 in the main cabin and 6 feet 5 forward. The head aft of the forward cabin runs the full width of the narrow hull — a sensible arrangement on a boat this slim — with two opening ports and a pair of Dorade-box cowl vents. The boat was one of the first of its size with standard hot and cold pressure water and a shower. In the dinette version, lowering the table makes a double berth and two quarterberths extend under the cockpit as sea berths; the original stove well took a three-burner gimballed stove with oven, whereas the conventional aft galley came with a two-burner alcohol stove and a small single sink, its counters quite low due to the low freeboard. Main-cabin ventilation is limited to the companionway hatch. Teak and mahogany warm the interior, dressers sit in both cabins, and many large lockers stow gear, sails, and oilskins.
Known Issues
Practical Sailor's survey found that several owners report the coring in the deck under the mast has crushed, letting the top of the cabin compress anchor. Early decks of edge-grain balsa can flex enough to break the bond between the fiberglass skins and the core. Big port and starboard cockpit lockers have poor locking arrangements and drain straight to the bilge. Some boats show a void along the bottom of the keel between the lead casting and the fiberglass shell, leaving the shell vulnerable to damage. Early hulls reportedly carried galvanized fuel and water tanks that will eventually rust through; late-production specifications call for an integral 48-gallon fiberglass water tank in the bilge and a 23-gallon monel fuel tank under the cockpit sole.
Refits and Ownership
Several owners have added bowsprits to convert their boats to cutter rigs with yankee and staysail. All Alberg 35s left the factory with the Atomic 4 gasoline engine; Universal Motors offers a Mini 4 diesel that is a literal bolt-in replacement, and there is ample room in the engine box under the companionway to fit a new diesel anchor. The standard tiller eats cockpit space, but most survivors have the optional pedestal wheel steering.
The Verdict
The Alberg 35 is a period Carl Alberg cruiser with genuine ocean-racing pedigree, easy motion, and a trackable hull — but she is narrow, heels fast, needs helm when reaching, and feels cramped against modern 35-footers.
Pros
- Easy motion and about 135 degrees of positive stability from the narrow, deep hull
- Tracks well and qualifies for major offshore races
- Simple aluminum mast, bolt-in diesel upgrade path, two interchangeable interior plans
Cons
- Heels quickly and needs helm when reaching; backs down poorly
- Edge-grain deck core and mast-step coring crush risks; cockpit lockers drain to bilge
- Cramped, low counters, weak aft-galley stove, limited main-cabin ventilation
