This is firmly a cruising boat rather than a light-displacement racer. Her displacement is near 20,800 pounds, including 7,900 pounds of lead ballast, for a ballast ratio of 38 percent. A displacement-length ratio of 351 further defines her as a heavy cruiser built to carry a cruising load.
Design and Construction
The Mistress 39 Mk II has a 29-foot-8-inch waterline, a 12-foot beam, and a long keel. Loaded draft is roughly 4.5 to 4.8 feet.
The hull is solid fiberglass, with the lead ballast encapsulated within the fiberglass keel layup and glassed over. This approach avoids external keel bolts and removes a classic source of keel-root weeping. Allied’s general practice during this period was to build solid, hand-laid hull laminates with conservative extra thickness in the bilge.
Allied joined the hull and deck using outward-turned flanges on both components. The joint was through-bolted on five-inch centers, with marine adhesive sealant between the flanges, then glassed over internally and capped with an extruded aluminum rubrail. All bulkheads were tabbed directly to the hull. The decks used a balsa core.
The long-keel profile and attached rudder suit the boat’s conservative offshore character and a loaded draft of roughly 4.5 to 4.8 feet. Her capsize screening value is 1.75, while the motion comfort ratio is 35.9. Those figures are consistent with a stable, damped offshore hull rather than a lively weekender.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The ketch carries noticeably more canvas than the average comparable sailboat. With a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 14.81, she is slightly overrigged, and having more rig than most peers helps the heavy hull make progress in modest airs. The generous sail plan still provides the split rig’s handling advantages downwind and in gusts.
Wetted surface is about 365 square feet, and theoretical displacement-hull speed is 7.3 knots. An immersion rate of about 1,246 pounds per inch means the boat sits deep and changes trim slowly under load, reinforcing her heavy-cruiser character.
Running rigging and control lines are sized accordingly. The mainsail, jib, genoa, and spinnaker halyards are each 31 meters long and half an inch in diameter. Sheets and the 29.4-meter mainsheet are 14 mm. Shorter controls, including the 4.4-meter cunningham and the 8.8-meter kicking strap or clew outhaul, are half an inch in diameter.
Accommodations and Interior
Allied introduced the Mistress 39 Mk II as a ketch-rigged cruiser in the Edmunds line, which also included the Princess 36. Within her 12-foot beam and heavy-displacement hull, she comes across as a dedicated cruiser rather than a volume-maximized charter boat.
Through the mid-to-late 1970s, Allied used woodgrain Formica veneer in the cabin. The yard later shifted to natural wood finishes. Combined with the long keel, attached rudder, and deep hull that changes trim slowly, the interior concept points toward comfortable liveaboard use or passagemaking rather than a racing-oriented plan.
Verdict
The Mistress 39 Mk II is a thoroughly traditional heavy cruiser. She combines a solid fiberglass hull, encapsulated lead ballast without external keel bolts, a split ketch rig with generous sail area, and a stable, slow-trimming hull intended for offshore comfort.
She isn’t a lightweight or a shoal-draft novelty. Her length-to-beam and displacement ratios mark her as a boat designed to carry a cruising load rather than win buoy races.
Pros
- Encapsulated lead ballast avoids the potential leakage paths associated with external keel bolts.
- The slightly overrigged ketch plan carries more sail than most peers, helping the heavy hull in light air.
- Her high motion comfort ratio and capsize screening value suit extended cruising.
Cons
- Heavy displacement and an immersion rate of 1,246 lb/in make her slow to accelerate and change trim.
- The balsa-cored deck demands careful inspection for moisture ingress.
- The pre-1979 Formica interior finish may feel dated compared with later natural-wood builds.
