Design and Construction
Bern’s 35-foot hull uses fiberglass sandwich construction, which the original review says improves the indoor climate. The same thermal-insulation principle appeared in the marque’s later sandwich-built boats.
The Comfortina 35 displaces 12,992 pounds and carries 4,409 pounds of lead ballast. That gives her a 34 percent ballast ratio. Combined with the 5.9-foot bulb fin, it puts the center of gravity low for a boat of this length.
Her overall length is 35.83 feet, with a beam of 10.83 feet. The resulting length-to-beam ratio of 3.19 keeps the topsides reasonably narrow without making them slab-sided. Wetted surface is about 398 square feet, while the displacement-length ratio of 187 places her among what the data describes as moderate racers rather than heavy voyagers.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The fractional sloop rig is one of the Comfortina 35’s defining features. Using the ISO reference sail, the sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 16.8; with a 135 percent genoa, it rises to 19.4. The review records that she carries more rig than 76 percent of similar sailboats, making her significantly overrigged by that measure.
Her Relative Speed Performance index is 86, and theoretical displacement-hull speed is 7.5 knots. Under the Yanmar 3GM, calculated maximum speed is about 6.0 knots.
The capsize screening value is 1.88, and the Motion Comfort Ratio is 24.9. The latter is a moderate figure. Together with an immersion rate of about 1,197 pounds per inch, it indicates that she settles predictably under load rather than skittering.
Draft varies from 5.91 to 6.21 feet with load. That keeps her out of shallow anchorages but steadies her on a heel.
Accommodation and Cruising Range
The CE Class A ocean certification is the clearest indication of the intended use for this narrow-beam cruiser. Tankage consists of 47 gallons of water and 21 gallons of diesel, framing her as a coastal-and-offshore cruiser rather than a long-haul liveaboard by tank capacity alone.
Machinery and Known Issues
A Yanmar 3GM diesel drives through a saildrive transmission, as recorded by the source.
Ownership and Upkeep
Ownership centers on a small fleet, with fewer than 200 boats built by a single Swedish yard. The figures relevant to living with the boat—including the immersion rate, comfort ratio, and ballast ratio—are stable and unremarkable. They suggest a boat that calls for routine fiberglass and rig care rather than constant structural attention.
The Verdict
The Comfortina 35 is a Thomas Bern design from a Swedish builder that trades volume for pace. She is overrigged for her size, certified for ocean class, and built in small numbers with a thermally insulated sandwich hull. She is more a sailor’s boat than a condo at anchor, and her modest production run and considered design speak for themselves.
Pros
- Fractional rig with a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of up to 19.4 under genoa, making her overrigged compared with peers
- Sandwich fiberglass hull built to improve the interior climate
- CE Class A ocean certification
- Bulb-fin hull with a 34 percent ballast ratio
- Low production—under 200 boats—from a Swedish builder
Cons
- Draft of 5.9–6.2 feet limits access to some marinas and anchorages
