Design and Construction
The Seabreeze’s hull measures 34 feet 6 inches overall with a 24-foot waterline, a 10-foot 3-inch beam, and a centerboard that lifts to 3 feet 10 inches and drops to 7 feet. Displacement is 13,400 pounds against 4,000 pounds of ballast, a 0.30 ballast-to-displacement ratio that, with the 433 displacement-to-length figure, describes a moderately heavy cruiser built for load-carrying steadiness rather than racing zeal. Allied Boat Company did a very good glass lay-up job, and the boat’s lead ballast was encapsulated within the keel layup and glassed over, bypassing external keel bolts. Bulkheads are tabbed directly to the hull and finished with varnished teak. The Citation revised the underbody cosmetics by adopting a trapezoidal rudder to fill the gap under the counter overhang.
Rig and Handling
Most Seabreezes sold as yawls, though the sloop rig carried 550 square feet of sail and the yawl 575, both at a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 15.6 — enough to drive the hull well without demanding a large crew. The centerboard is recommended to be dropped to 50 degrees from horizontal for sailing, pivoting on a kingpin accessible from inside the bilge. Early boats carried a 380-pound bronze board; in 1967 this was replaced by a 115-pound aluminum version. A well-maintained Seabreeze makes a strong and, for its length, spacious cruising yacht, and the design has cruised as far as the Pacific.
Accommodations
The Citation’s interior gains a dinette and a two-door head compartment over the earlier layout, with the main cabin lengthened by a foot. The slightly longer cockpit came at the expense of lazarette space. Period owners have traded the pilot berths for extra storage cabinets, and lockers have been reworked to house reefer/freezer units, air conditioning, and modern electronics. Varnished teak bulkheads remain a defining visual.
Known Issues
Some of the older boats tend to break chainplates, usually on the lower shrouds, threatening to topple the deck-stepped mainmasts; the chainplates are buried in fiberglass gussets for most of their length and should come out at regular intervals for inspections or be replaced with an alloy more resistant to crevice corrosion. Blistering is seldom reported by owners, and only minor balsa-deck separations occasionally surface.
Refits and Ownership
Cockpits sport steering wheels instead of tillers on many boats, and invariably power comes from diesel engines after repowering, though the standard auxiliary was originally the Palmer M60 gasoline unit with 30 gallons of fuel and 45 gallons of water. These refits reflect a fleet that has been kept active and adapted to modern cruising.
The Verdict
The Seabreeze 35 Citation is a thoughtfully evolved centerboard cruiser with a sound original lay-up and a practical, roomy interior for its length. The chainplate corrosion path is the one structural caveat a buyer must respect.
Pros
- Encapsulated lead ballast and strong glass lay-up
- Centerboard versatility with accessible pivot for service
- Spacious, adapted Citation interior with dinette and two-door head
- Proven offshore range to the Pacific
Cons
- Lower-shroud chainplate failure risk on older boats
- Balsa-cored deck separation possible, if rare
