Alden Malabar SR. Sailboats for Sale

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull Type

Monohull · long

Rig

Masthead Sloop

LOA

33.25' · 10.13 m

Disp.

13,200 lbs · 5,987 kg

First year

1956

The name Malabar holds a hallowed position in the annuals of American yachting. For decades, it served as the moniker for the personal cruising yachts of John G. Alden, one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated naval architects. Introduced in 1956, the Malabar Senior (often designated as the Malabar Sr.) represented a refined culmination of Alden’s lifelong pursuit of the perfect, seakindly family cruiser. Conceptionally cataloged as Alden Design Number 917, the boat was designed to bridge the gap between traditional wooden construction and the evolving postwar demands for greater crew comfort and offshore capability. While many American designs of the era were narrow and cramped, Alden gave the Malabar Senior a generous beam and robust freeboard, creating an exceptionally spacious interior. The majority of these elegant pocket cruisers were built by Adolf LeComte’s yard in Jutphaas, Holland, which specialized in bringing European craftsmanship to the American market, though legendary domestic yards like the Burr Brothers of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, also built a select few. Production ran until 1963, marking the end of Alden’s woodhull production era just as fiberglass began its inexorable rise.