Design Brief & Intent
The primary mission of the Fales 38 Explorer was to offer a reliable, all-weather passagemaker capable of transoceanic voyages while keeping its crew dry and warm. Street designed the boat with a high-volume hull form, a full-keel underbody, and a ketch rig to distribute the sail area into easily manageable, low-aspect proportions. This focus placed it in direct competition with the robust Scandinavian imports of the era, such as the Nauticat 38 and Finnsailer designs, as well as domestic options like the Mariner 38.
Step below, and the interior volume is immediately striking, thanks in part to the generous 6-foot-5-inch headroom designed to accommodate taller sailors—a specific priority of the builder. The cabinetry and joinery utilize traditional teak veneers and solid wood trims, demonstrating a level of fit-out typical of New England boatbuilding heritage. It features an expansive salon, a large U-shaped galley, a dedicated navigation station, and two private staterooms with a well-apportioned head, ensuring comfortable liveaboard standards during long passages or extended winters.
Variations & Configurations
While sharing the exact same heavy-displacement fiberglass hull as its sistership, the Fales 38 Navigator, the Explorer variant is distinguished by its deck configuration and rig focus. While many Navigator models featured center-cockpit pilothouse arrangements—sometimes even fitted with twin Perkins engines for a heavier trawler-style experience—the 38 Explorer is typically configured with an aft-cockpit layout and a traditional deckhouse that provides a more classic cruising silhouette.
The boat features a deep 5-foot draft on a long, full-keel profile with a protected, attached rudder. This configuration ensures the running gear is fully shielded from debris or accidental groundings. The rig is almost exclusively a staysail ketch. This sailplan allows short-handed crews to easily adjust their canvas in changing weather, utilizing the classic "jib and jigger" configuration in heavy air to keep the boat balanced and flat without overwhelming the helmsman.
Sailing Performance & Handling
The Fales 38 Explorer is not a light-air racer, and its mathematical design ratios bear this out. With a displacement-to-length ratio of 291.93, it falls squarely into the heavy cruiser category. Its sail area-to-displacement ratio of 13.84 indicates that under sail alone, the boat can feel underpowered in light breezes, requiring a solid 10 to 12 knots of wind before the hull settles into its groove. However, its true strength lies in motorsailing. Powered by a robust 80-horsepower Perkins diesel engine, the yacht excels at maintaining high cruising speeds under power while the ketch rig acts as a steadying force, dramatically reducing rolling in a cross-sea.
When the weather deteriorates, the design's offshore breeding shines. A comfort ratio of 38.46 ensures a gentle, sea-kindly motion, dampening the rapid, fatiguing acceleration and pitching motion common in modern, light-displacement hulls. Safety is further underscored by a capsize screening ratio of 1.68, placing it well within the strict structural parameters accepted for ocean racing and blue-water voyaging. At the helm, the full keel provides exceptional directional tracking, allowing the boat to maintain its course with minimal effort from either a mechanical windvane or an autopilot.
Market Snapshot & Economics
Given that only 18 units of the Fales 38 Explorer were ever built, they are exceptionally scarce on the brokerage market. When they do appear, they typically trade at a value premium compared to mass-produced coastal cruisers of the same vintage, appealing directly to traditionalists who value heavy fiberglass construction over speed.
Acquiring a Fales 38 Explorer generally means inheriting a vessel that is decades old, which demands careful economic calculation regarding refits. Prospective buyers must budget for the eventual overhaul of the vintage Perkins diesel engine, though these engines are notoriously bulletproof and widely supported by parts networks worldwide. Replacing or upgrading the standing rigging on a ketch can also cost significantly more than a standard sloop rig simply due to the secondary mast and auxiliary rigging components. However, for a buyer looking to secure a structurally impenetrable offshore cruiser for a fraction of the cost of a modern blue-water yacht, the initial purchase price of a Fales 38 represents highly favorable economics.
The Verdict
The Fales 38 Explorer is a unapologetic, heavy-duty cruising machine designed for safety, comfort, and self-reliance at sea. While it will never appeal to sailors seeking high-speed sailing performance in light air, it remains an exceptional sanctuary for those navigating high latitudes or embarking on long-distance ocean passages.
Pros
- Exceptional motion comfort in heavy seas due to high displacement and a high comfort ratio.
- Solid, overbuilt hand-laid fiberglass hull construction provides superior impact resistance.
- Highly manageable staysail ketch rig allows for numerous sail combinations and easy short-handed handling.
- Generous 6-foot-5-inch interior headroom and a spacious, traditional liveaboard layout.
- Full-length keel provides superb directional tracking and excellent protection for the rudder and propeller.
Cons
- Sluggish sailing performance in light airs due to high wetted surface area and a conservative sail area-to-displacement ratio.
- Extreme scarcity on the used market makes finding a well-preserved hull difficult.
- Higher long-term rig maintenance costs associated with servicing two masts and additional rigging.
- Reduced maneuverability in tight marina spaces, typical of full-keeled heavy-displacement vessels.
