Design and Construction
Bianca A/S built the Blue Leth 32 with a hand-laid fiberglass hull and a deck that is also hand-laid fiberglass but executed as a sandwich deck insulation, a construction choice the original documentation credits with insulating the cabin against cold water and cutting condensation below. The keel itself is lead, bolted to a fin that draws between 5.58 and 5.88 feet depending on load. At a displacement near 8,047 pounds with 3,593 pounds of ballast, her ballast ratio of 45 percent is higher than 73 percent of comparable sailboat designs, and her length-to-beam ratio of 3.21 makes her slimmer than 54 percent of them. The DL-ratio of 278 places her among the "heavy cruisers," while an immersion rate of about 144 kg per centimeter speaks to a stiff, slow-to-sink hull form.
Rig and Handling
The Blue Leth 32 carries a masthead sloop rig with sheet specifications that betray a conventional northern-European inventory: jib and genoa sheets of 9.6 meters at 12 mm diameter, a 24.1-meter mainsheet of the same diameter, and spinnaker sheets of 21.2 meters. Under power she may be fitted with an 18-horsepower inboard diesel turning a shaft drive, good for a calculated maximum of about 5.3 knots; under sail her displacement hull tops out near the theoretical max speed of 6.5 knots for a boat of this waterline. The capsize screening value of 1.94 and a Motion Comfort Ratio of 22.6 to 23.5 — more comfortable than 46 percent of similar designs — frame her as a stable, if not plush, coastal and offshore cruiser. Her relative speed performance of 62 puts her ahead of 62 percent of similar sailboats despite the heavy-cruiser categorization.
Accommodations
Below, the Blue Leth 32 offers two cabins and six berths finished in mahogany, with a galley and a toilet facility. Fresh water capacity is 26 US gallons and the fuel tank holds 16 US gallons, figures that suit weekend and shorthanded cruising more than long unsupported passages. The two-cabin layout and six-berth count suggest a owner-forward double and a saloon conversion rather than private aft staterooms, a typical Danish-family arrangement of the period.
The Verdict
The Blue Leth 32 is a thoughtfully engineered small cruiser from the Elvstrøm & Kjærulff office, with a sandwich deck that genuinely addresses cold-climate condensation and a ballast-to-weight profile that lends her stability rare in her size class. She is not a lightweight racer, but her numbers show a seakindly, reasonably quick hull that punches above her length in comfort and ballast authority.
Pros
- Lead fin keel with high 45% ballast ratio for a 32-foot cruiser
- Sandwich deck construction that insulates and reduces cabin condensation
- Stable motion profile with capsize screening of 1.94
Cons
- Modest 16-gallon fuel and 26-gallon water capacity limit range
- Categorized as a heavy cruiser by DL-ratio, so not quick in light air
- Only two cabins and six berths in a 31-foot hull
