Cheoy Lee Offshore 41 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Richards laid the Offshore 41 out to meet Lloyd's specifications, and Cheoy Lee marketed it as meeting that standard, though Richards noted there was no Lloyd's inspector on the premises during construction. The hulls are solid fiberglass that he says came out heavier than designed; his lamination schedule called for six plies of 2-ounce mat with an additional six plies of graduated widths, a schedule he said was not followed. The deck, cockpit, and cabin sides were cored with mahogany encapsulated in two layers of 2-ounce mat and overlaid with 3/8-inch teak planking. The hull/deck joint uses an inner facing flange forming a shelf where the deck was laid in wet mat and through-bolted, with the teak toerail rabbeted to take the deck thickness and bolted through. Cheoy Lee replaced solid fiberglass stringers with joinerwork flats and aprons so that berths and cabinetry act as hull stiffeners, while bulkheads are dropped in, bolted to webs and floors, and glassed to the hull. A molded grid in the bottom gives structural support, a floor framework, and the cavity for the internal keel, which carries an 8,700-pound slurry of lead and concrete and doubles as 50 gallons of fuel tankage.

Rig and Handling

The sloop is the best performer of the three rigs, with 833 square feet of sail and a sail-area/displacement ratio of 17.5, compared with 18.1 for the yawl and 18.4 for the ketch. Owners of sloops report their boats sail to weather as well as similarly sized boats and log 5.5 to 6.5 knots in 10 to 15 knots of breeze, while two-masted owners say theirs are slower. The sloop points higher, tacking through 85 to 90 degrees, while the ketch and yawls manage 100 to 110 degrees at best. All agree the best performance comes on a reach at 120 degrees to the apparent wind under a genoa, where speeds reach 7.5 to 8 knots. The traditional full keel gave way to a 6-foot cruising fin with cutaway forefoot and a skeg-hung rudder, and Richards described the boat as "stiff as a church"; she tracks well, with the skeg credited for that steadiness and for prioritizing directional stability running downwind in a swell.

Accommodations

Richards designed an 18-foot-long, nearly wide-open cabin sleeping six, with seating for 6 to 8 at an 8-foot diameter dinette. Enclosed forepeak berths are reached by removing a panel in the dinette back, laid out toe-over-toe with the port berth higher. A starboard-aft skipper's stateroom has a double berth and hanging locker; opposite to port are wide quarter berths, the lower doubling as the navigator's seat with an upper that folds away. All berths are at least 6 feet 6 inches. The galley, typically U-shaped near the companionway, has two stainless sinks, a gimbaled four-burner stove, and an 11-cubic-foot refrigerator/freezer. The head is a one-room toilet and shower opposite the galley with a 50-gallon holding tank. Light comes from eight ports and three hatches, with two Dorades over the saloon, and the interior joinery is usually finished in Burmese teak.

Known Issues

Like many boats of its era, the Offshore 41 was susceptible to blistering on the bottom and rudder, with owners reporting quarter-sized blisters up to ones larger than a hand on the rudder. The teak-over-fiberglass decks require frequent re-caulking, and many owners reported leaks between the two. Spruce masts on used boats are not as sturdy or weather-resistant as aluminum, can rot at the base if water stands, and need annual varnishing; one owner gained a new lease after coating the mast with Awlgrip. One owner noted the flywheel brings up bilge water and needed a metal shield to stop starter and alternator faults. The boat has no anchor locker.

Refits and Ownership

Original equipment included four cockpit sheet winches and two at the mast, with the mainsheet on a traveler forward of the companionway and the helm well aft in a 9-foot 11-inch T-shaped cockpit. The Perkins 4.108 turning 2,500 rpm burns less than a gallon per hour per owners, and an optional 40-gallon cockpit tank was offered. One owner's boat survived Hurricane Hugo with substantial damage but kept structural shape through component strength. Coating a spruce mast and staying ahead of deck leaks are the recurrent ownership tasks.

The Verdict

The Offshore 41 is a stout, traditional cruiser with serious ballast and a stiff, track-loving hull that rewards offshore work more than light-air sprinting. The sloop is the sharpest of the three rigs, and the joinerwork-as-structure approach makes the cabin both roomy and integral. Teak decks and period blistering are the price of admission.

Pros