Design and Construction
The hull is hand-laid fiberglass with a solid laminate, while the deck is a fiberglass sandwich — a construction choice the original reporting notes improves the indoor climate by reducing thermal transfer. The keel is a fin of iron, and the interior is teak, consistent with period Scandinavian practice. Boo Marine, the marque predecessor, had been founded in Sweden in the late 1960s by Ingrid and Bengt Jansson, and Qviberg's work on the 32 in 1982 opened his long design association with Arcona. Early hulls relied on a heavily reinforced fiberglass grid system to distribute keel and mast loads rather than the steel chassis later Arcona models adopted.
Rig and Handling
The boat carries a fractional rig and is, by one database comparison, slightly overrigged — she has more rig than 54 percent of similar sailboats, which suggests a bias toward performance over bare-minimum cruising trim. With the ISO 8666 reference sail her sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 17.0, rising to 19.6 with a 135 percent genoa, and the displacement-length ratio of 222 places her among moderate racers. Her capsize screening value is 2.03, a figure that indicates she would not be accepted to participate in ocean races capsize screening value of 2.03. Under a Volvo Penta 2002 engine with saildrive transmission the reported speed is 7.5 knots, against a theoretical displacement-hull maximum of 6.9 knots. The draft runs about 1.74 to 1.84 meters depending on load, enough to let her enter most marinas while preserving a useful keel profile.
Accommodations
Below, the joinery is teak, and the 31.5-foot length with a 10.5-foot beam supports a conventional cruising interior for the class. The living space is best understood as a period teak-finished Scandinavian layout rather than a quantified plan.
The Verdict
The Arcona 32 is a compact, mildly performance-oriented Swedish fractional sloop whose hand-laid hull and sandwich deck reflect early-1980s construction discipline. She is slightly overrigged for her size and tuned more as a moderate racer than an offshore campaigner, yet her modest draft and teak interior keep her in the cruiser-racer conversation. Low production numbers mean careful shopping, but the design is coherent and well resolved for its brief.
Pros
- Slightly overrigged fractional sloop with moderate-racer displacement-length ratio
- Sandwich deck noted to improve cabin climate
- Draft around 1.74–1.84 m suits most marinas
- Teak interior and solid hand-laid hull
Cons
- Capsize screening value excludes her from ocean-race acceptance
- Under 200 built, limiting available examples
- Engine speed claim tied to a specific Volvo Penta 2002 configuration
