Design and Construction
Bruce Farr drew the Farr 38 with a fiberglass hull, lead fin keel, and spade rudder. Lead offered a 44 percent weight advantage over iron, allowing a smaller, lower-drag appendage with less wetted resistance.
The low-drag hull has a fine entry that helps the boat beat comfortably into chop or big seas. Period owners note that she was well engineered for ruggedness and designed to remain afloat if holed, an offshore-minded philosophy also reflected in the interior plan.
Farr chose a slightly more spacious hull than many contemporary designs. Below, the Farr 38 is more spacious than 58 percent of comparable boats and has a length-to-beam ratio near 3.2.
Rig and Handling
The Farr 38 carries a fractional sloop rig with a comparatively small working sail plan but a generous sail-area-to-displacement ratio. Database comparisons describe her as overrigged relative to 99 percent of similar boats.
In practice, the rig lets the boat shift gears quickly, powering up or down as conditions change. A minimally overlapping jib remains effective from roughly 3 knots of wind to about 30 without furling. The smaller headsails also make tacking easier, which benefits cruisers and racers alike. For the best downwind speed, however, the boat usually needs a gennaker or spinnaker.
The fin keel provides splendid maneuverability in close quarters, though it offers less directional stability than a longer keel.
Performance
Owners report an enormous amount of stability for a boat of this length and displacement. That stability contributes to very seaworthy behavior and decent motion comfort.
The light, low-drag hull and fractional rig allow the Farr 38 to reach at double-digit speeds in a stiff breeze. Owners report sustained speeds of about 10 knots as the wind builds into the mid-20s, with the boat surfing past 14 knots at the top end. She also performs well in heavy conditions and is praised as a great all-rounder for her era and price bracket.
Accommodations and Systems
The Farr 38’s interior follows an offshore-oriented layout with good sea berths. Rather than concentrating everyone in the saloon, the original deck plan was designed to spread out a large crew.
Owners also note the simple systems throughout, which keep maintenance and fault-finding straightforward. Large water tankage and generous consumable storage support longer passages without constant resupply.
Fuel Capacity
The principal documented shortfall is fuel capacity. The standard tank is very small, although quite a few Farr 38s were fitted with a second tank, raising total capacity to around 35 gallons.
One owner reported completing a Cape Town-to-Caribbean passage on less than 12 gallons, suggesting that the modest tank can be workable for sailors who motor little.
The Verdict
The Farr 38 is a genuinely versatile Farr design, pairing light-displacement speed with unexpected stability and a rig that suits short-handed sailing. Her simple systems and offshore layout work well for a couple or small crew making coastal or bluewater passages. Meanwhile, the lead fin keel and low-drag hull provide lively performance without demanding a racing crew.
The main caveat is the tiny as-built fuel tank. On many boats, that limitation has been addressed with the common addition of a second tank.
Pros
- Exceptional stability and seaworthiness for a late-1970s 38-footer
- Easily handled short-handed across a 3-to-30-knot wind range
- Double-digit reaching speeds and surfing past 14 knots
- Offshore interior with good sea berths and large water storage
- Simple, low-maintenance systems and rugged engineering intended to keep the boat afloat if holed
Cons
- Very small standard fuel tank
- Fin keel provides less directional stability than a long keel
- Best downwind performance depends on carrying a spinnaker or gennaker
