Cascade 36 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Smith's hull is a hand-laid solid fiberglass shell built from woven roving and mat, with no core material in the laminate and reinforcement from internal stringers and bulkheads. An epoxy barrier coat protects against osmosis, while the deck is a balsa-cored fiberglass molding that adds stiffness and insulation and carries a non-skid surface. The fin keel is lead, bolted through the hull on stainless steel fastenings, and the spade rudder hangs from a skeg on stainless pintles and gudgeons with a foam-cored fiberglass blade on a stainless stock. A balanced rudder shape reduces helm pressure and sharpens steering response, pairing with the fin profile to give the boat good maneuverability and stability underfoot.

Rig and Handling

The Cascade 36 is offered as both a masthead sloop and a masthead cutter, with earlier sloop versions built without a bowsprit and a cutter variant added to the line. The aluminum mast is deck-stepped on a compression post, 46 feet from the waterline, with two sets of swept-back spreaders, internal halyards, an external mainsail track, and an internal wiring conduit; the aluminum boom carries an internal mainsail reefing system. Rigging is stainless steel wire with swaged terminals and turnbuckles, and the cutter wears a roller-furling genoa on the forestay with a staysail on an inner stay. With a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 17.6, the design will approach her maximum hull speed readily in the right conditions, while a displacement-length ratio of 232 marks her as a moderate displacement cruiser able to carry cruising gear.

Accommodations

Below, the Cascade 36 sleeps up to six across two cabins and the main saloon. The forward cabin holds a V-berth with under-storage and a hanging locker; the aft cabin offers a double berth with similar stowage and its own locker. The saloon centers on a U-shaped dinette that converts to a double, a settee that serves as a single, and a table that folds down when not in use. A chart table and electrical panel form the navigation station, and the galley is fitted with stove, oven, sink, refrigerator, and ample counter and storage. One head carries a marine toilet, sink, and shower. The boat is steered from a single wheel in an aft cockpit with generous seating and stowage, and the deck brings light and air through two large hatches, four opening ports, and six fixed ports, framed by stainless stanchions, lifelines, pulpit, stern rail, cleats, chocks, and handrails.

Versions and Ownership

The design was sold in several configurations: an owner's version with a larger aft cabin, a charter version carrying more berths, and custom builds. A ballast-displacement ratio of 35.5 means the hull tends to heel excessively in a gust unless ballast is concentrated in a bulb at the keel foot — the keel is a bolted lead fin rather than a bulb, so sailors should expect lively angles off the wind. Ted Brewer's Comfort Ratio of 29.1 places her seaway motion with that of a moderate-stability coastal cruiser, and a Capsize Screening Formula of 1.7 marks her a safer choice for an ocean passage than a comparable boat above 2.0.

The Verdict

The Cascade 36 is a thoughtfully engineered Smith cruiser: a solid-glass hull with balsa-cored deck, a balanced spade rudder, and a cutter rig that drives a moderate-displacement hull toward hull speed without fuss. Her accommodations are practical for a couple or a small crew, and her stability numbers argue for bluewater capability within a coastal-cruiser comfort band. The chief caveats are her non-bulb ballast tending to heel readily and the age-related scrutiny any 156-boat, 1967-onward series demands of core, fastenings, and rigging.

Pros