Design and Construction
The 385 has a beamy 19-foot 7-inch hull, a modest 3-foot 5-inch draft, and a displacement of 15,876 pounds. She carries a Category A (Ocean) rating under the European Recreational Craft Directive.
The hulls are built in Poland and finished in the United Kingdom. Below the waterline, they use solid fiberglass reinforced with Kevlar in loaded areas. The structure measures between half an inch and 1.25 inches thick where it carries the greatest loads. Above the waterline, the hulls and deck use end-grain balsa-cored laminates, with marine-grade plywood reinforcing the hardware mounts. Five bulkheads and six flotation compartments, paired with watertight construction fore and aft, render the boat virtually unsinkable and meet the highest EU boatbuilding standard. The structure measures between half an inch and 1.25 inches thick where it carries the greatest loads, as described in this account of the Kevlar-reinforced solid fiberglass below the waterline.
The keels are molded as an integral part of the hulls and sealed off to form a double bottom. Each keel has a stainless-steel shoe, making grounding damage less likely and allowing the keel to act as the first line of defense. The skeg-hung rudders match the keel depth, so the boat can be beached for maintenance without using a haul-out yard.
A long bridgedeck, inherited from the boat’s Prout ancestry, provides stowage underneath. Its 30 inches of forward clearance, however, made it more prone to slamming than a catamaran with a forward trampoline.
Rig and Handling
Broadblue offered two rigs. On the Sport Rig, the mast stands at the forward end of the house, with small headsails and a large-roached mainsail providing the drive. The Aft Rig moves the mast aft and uses a 534-square-foot genoa with a 304-square-foot high-aspect mainsail to pull the bows across the wind. The later S4 evolution introduced a forward-facing sailing station with angled winches and a self-tacking headsail, while removing the backstays to accommodate a square-top mainsail. The two original choices were the Sport Rig and Aft Rig.
All sail controls lead aft to the cockpit, so the crew needn’t leave the helm. The boat was expressly designed for singlehanded or shorthanded sailing, using a smaller mainsail with larger headsails. Electric headsail furlers were later added to the S4 options list.
Writing in Cruising World, reviewers described this European catamaran as squarely aimed at ocean-passage cruisers. Yachting Monthly noted that she’s no slouch, but is geared toward safety, comfort, and easy handling rather than outright pace.
Accommodations
The standard owner’s layout has three double cabins and two heads with separate showers. Hand-built light-oak joinery, teak-and-holly laminate flooring, and recessed LED lighting feature throughout, along with a full 2 meters of headroom.
The open-plan saloon includes a U-shaped dinette that seats six around an oak table, a forward-facing navigation station, and panoramic windows of frameless toughened glass. The galley has solid-surface countertops, twin recessed sinks, a stainless-steel refrigerator, and a recessed oven. A deck hatch above provides ventilation.
Both aft cabins have king-size 2-by-1.5-meter berths with 10-centimeter mattresses, large hanging lockers, and overhead round hatches. The port hull adds a desk and pull-out seat. In the configuration sailed, the starboard side replaced that desk with a large additional refrigerator/freezer and a workbench.
The washing facilities are divided between the hulls. A separate shower stall is located to port, while the starboard head has its own shower with an electric sump pump. Each side has a 50-liter holding tank and monitoring gauge.
Machinery and Cruising Systems
Twin 20-horsepower Volvo diesels with saildrives provide auxiliary power. The boat carries 132 gallons of fuel and 125 gallons of water, supporting long-distance cruising without frequent resupply.
Corrosion-resistant interior fittings, DC and AC electrical panels with trip switches, and a static ventilation system contribute to a low-maintenance ownership profile.
Known Issue
The principal handling caveat noted in period reviews is the bridgedeck’s 30-inch forward clearance. It made the boat more prone to slamming than open-bow cats with forward trampolines. That is the trade-off for the enclosed stowage space beneath the bridgedeck.
The Verdict
The Broadblue 385 is a thoughtfully developed bluewater catamaran. She trades the airy volume of a Fountaine Pajot for structural redundancy, straightforward solo handling, and a finished interior suited to liveaboard passagemaking. Her enclosed bridgedeck and fine-entry hulls with reserve buoyancy suit cautious offshore planners, though the tendency to slam forward is the price of that layout.
Pros
- Virtually unsinkable, thanks to six flotation compartments and sealed double-bottom keels
- Genuine shorthanded capability, with all lines led aft and a self-tacking jib
- Category A ocean construction, with Kevlar-reinforced solid fiberglass below the waterline
- Can be beached on matching skeg-hung rudders and keels for owner maintenance
Cons
- More prone to bridgedeck slamming than cats with forward trampolines
- Less interior space than some contemporary cruising catamarans
