Design and Construction
Both hull and deck are fiberglass, but the deck is a sandwich layup rather than solid glass, a choice the original review credits with improving the indoor climate by damping temperature transfer. The hull itself is solid glass without a core. The keel is lead, and Fabola offered the 39 with different keel alternatives: one fin draws about 1.90 to 2.00 meters (6.23 to 6.53 feet) depending on load and limits her to major marinas, while another fin option draws just 1.75 to 1.85 meters (5.74 to 6.04 feet) and admits her to most marinas. The interior is mahogany, in keeping with many production boats of the period.
Rig and Handling
The Diva 39 is built with a fractional rig and, by the numbers, is significantly overrigged: she carries more sail plan than 92 percent of comparable sailboats, with a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 20.6 on the ISO reference sail and 23.8 with a 135 percent genoa. Her length-to-beam ratio is 3.90 and her displacement-length ratio is 149, placing her among light racers. Period calculations put her theoretical displacement-hull speed at 7.4 knots, with a reported top speed of 7.0 knots and a calculated maximum near 5.4 knots; her capsize screening value is 1.82 and her motion comfort ratio falls between 20.1 and 22.5. The wetted surface is about 376 square feet, and the immersion rate is roughly 1,068 pounds per inch. Running rig is sized generously — mainsail and headsail halyards run 121 feet of 1/2-inch line, the mainsheet is 97 feet of 9/16-inch, and jib sheets are 39 feet of 9/16-inch.
Accommodations
The cabin is finished in mahogany like many of her contemporaries, giving a traditional Scandinavian interior tone. The known record does not describe berth count or galley arrangement, but the use of solid-wood joinery and a sandwich deck aimed at cabin comfort marks her as a cruiser-racer rather than a bare racer.
Known Issues
A meaningful wrinkle in the Diva 39 story is that the boat was also sold to be home-completed, which means that the quality of each individual example may vary widely from a factory-built hull. A buyer or reviewer cannot assume uniform structural or finish standards across the fleet, since some boats left the builder as kits rather than turnkey yachts.
The Verdict
The Diva 39 is a light-displacement Scandinavian cruiser-racer with an unusually powerful rig for her length and a flexible keel program that lets an owner trade draft for marina access. The sandwich deck and mahogany interior speak to comfort, while the home-completion option introduces real variance in build quality that any serious evaluator must reckon with.
Pros
- Fractional rig with sail-area-to-displacement ratio well above class norm
- Lead keel with optional shallow fin for broader marina access
- Sandwich deck construction for better cabin climate
- Light-racer displacement profile with credible speed potential
Cons
- Home-completed kits create inconsistent quality across the fleet
- Deeper keel option restricts her to major marinas only
