Design and Construction
Bruce Farr drew the Farr 38 as a fiberglass hull with a lead fin keel and a spade rudder, the keel material giving a 44 percent weight advantage over iron and permitting a smaller, lower-drag appendage with less wetted resistance. The hull form is low-drag, with a fine entry that lets her beat comfortably into a chop or big seas. Period owners note the boat was well engineered to be rugged and to stay afloat if holed, an offshore-minded philosophy echoed in the interior plan. The designer chose a slightly more spacious hull than many peers, and the boat is more spacious below than 58 percent of comparable designs, with 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 yet a generous sail-area-to-displacement ratio, which database comparisons flag as overrigged relative to 99 percent of similar boats. In practice that rig lets the boat shift gears quickly, powering up or down and carrying a minimally overlapping jib that stays effective from roughly 3 knots up to about 30 without furling. Smaller headsails make tacking easier, an asset for both cruisers and racers, though optimal downwind speed usually calls for a gennaker or spinnaker. The fin keel gives splendid maneuverability in close quarters, at the trade-off of less directional stability than a longer keel.
Performance
Owners report an enormous amount of stability for a boat of this length and displacement, and that stability translates into very seaworthy behavior with decent motion comfort. The light, low-drag hull and fractional rig allow her to reach at double-digit speeds in a stiff breeze, sustaining about 10 knots when the wind builds into the mid-20s and surfing past 14 knots at the top end. She performs well in heavy conditions and is praised as a great all-rounder for her era and price bracket.
Accommodations
Inside, the Farr 38 follows an offshore-oriented layout with good sea berths, and the original deck plan was aimed at spreading out a big crew rather than concentrating bodies in a saloon. Owners note simple systems throughout, which keeps maintenance and fault-finding straightforward. The boat also carries large water tankage and generous consumable storage, supporting longer passages without constant resupply.
Known Issues
The principal documented shortfall is fuel capacity: the standard tank is very small, though quite a few Farr 38s were fitted with a second tank raising total capacity to around 35 gallons. One owner reported a Cape Town-to-Caribbean passage on less than 12 gallons, suggesting the modest tank is workable for sailors who motor little.
The Verdict
The Farr 38 is a genuinely versatile Farr design that pairs light-displacement speed with unexpected stability and a short-handed-friendly rig. Her simple systems and offshore layout suit a couple or small crew on coastal or bluewater passages, while the lead fin keel and low-drag hull deliver lively performance without demanding a racing crew. The main caveat is the tiny as-built fuel tank, easily addressed on many boats by the common second-tank addition.
Pros
- Exceptional stability and seaworthiness for a late-1970s 38-footer
- Easily 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 holed-survival engineering
Cons
- Very small standard fuel tank
- Fin keel gives less directional stability than a long keel
- Downwind efficiency depends on carrying a spinnaker or gennaker
