Downeaster 32 Sailboats for Sale

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull Type

Monohull · long

Rig

Cutter

LOA

32' · 9.75 m

Disp.

17,000 lbs · 7,711 kg

First year

1975

In the mid1970s, the American fiberglass boatbuilding boom was in full swing, yet the market was increasingly bifurcated between lightweight, massproduced coastal cruisers and expensive, heavydisplacement overseas imports. Bob Poole, an East Coast native from Maine and a seasoned executive at Columbia Yachts, saw an opportunity to bridge this gap. He envisioned a line of rugged, dependable, and traditional cruising yachts built with classic East Coast aesthetic sensibilities but constructed efficiently on the West Coast. In 1974, Poole founded Down East Yachts in Santa Ana, California. After collaborating with selftaught designer Henry Mohrschladt on the flagship Downeaster 38, Poole stepped up to design the smaller sibling himself. Introduced in 1975, the Downeaster 32 quickly became the builder’s most popular model, with 134 hulls completed before production concluded in 1980.