Design and Construction
The 396 DI's hull sections are basically flat from stem to stern to minimize underbody depth anchor, and the bottom carries a full inch of solid glass to survive taking the weight on land. The hull itself is fabricated of solid glass with chopped strand mat and woven roving in a polyester resin matrix, while the deck is cored with end-grain balsa and longitudinal stringers and athwartship frames are glassed in for rigidity. On the lifting-keel version a cast-iron belly pan is affixed externally into a recess in the underbody, fair with the bottom, providing 6,860 pounds of ballast; the lifting foil itself is fiberglass, weighs less than 300 pounds, and pivots around a heavy-duty stainless pin through bushings. Structural skegs flank the centerboard trunk and the propeller to protect those zones. Instead of a single high-aspect spade rudder, the boat carries two shallower elliptical foils canted port and starboard, each engineered to accept the weight of the whole boat when on the hard. A fixed 5-foot-11-inch ballasted fin keel was offered as an alternative, with a 5,400-pound cast-iron foil bolted on conventionally and a lighter 15,470-pound displacement.
Rig and Handling
The mast is deck-stepped, with halyards and controls led aft through organizers and stoppers to cabin-mounted self-tailers, supporting short-handed operation from the cockpit. Connected to the wheel by a Whitlock rack-and-pinion system, the dual canted rudders provide excellent response at the helm anchor. In light air on flat water the boat moved along effortlessly, tracked well, and dug to weather nicely with the board down. The 100 percent sail area is 654 square feet on a 54-foot mast above water, and the lifting-keel version's sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 15.4 (16.9 for the fin) reflects a moderately powered cruiser rather than a racer.
Accommodations
Buyers could choose a two-stateroom layout with a bow double and a full-width aft double, or a three-stateroom version splitting the stern into port and starboard cabins. Both layouts carry two heads with showers, one forward and one aft, each with its own dedicated stainless steel holding tank. The saloon has L-shaped settees both sides and a central dinette that folds out to join them, and the woodwork is elm for a light, airy look. The galley sits to port abaft the companionway with double stainless sinks and a microwave, while to starboard lie the after head and a forward-facing nav station and electrical center. Three hanging lockers are distributed through the boat, and cabin headroom is 7 feet.
Equipment and Systems
The 40-horsepower Yanmar diesel is reached through convertible front and side inspection hatches below the companionway. The battery bank sits under the cabin sole in a custom fiberglass casing with one start battery and two deep-cycle house units, and the nav-station panel organizes 16 12-volt and six 220-volt breakers. Pressurized hot and cold water serves galley and heads, with a deck shower in the cockpit. Forward, double anchor rollers and a generous chain locker with a mechanical windlass are fitted, and the cockpit's removable helmsman's seat opens onto a swim platform.
Known Issues
Period reviewers raised a concern over the suitability of cast iron as belly ballast in the shallow-draft lifting version, given its vulnerability to rust and corrosion in the marine environment anchor; Kirie addressed this by keeping the metal external and beefing up the hull schedule where it attaches. The cockpit is rather small and compromised by a wide bridge deck intended for fairweather lounging, and going below is a climb-out-of-the-cockpit maneuver that leaves a crewmember exposed in rough offshore conditions.
The Verdict
The Feeling 396 DI is a genuinely unusual cruiser: a 38-footer engineered from the hull up to beach like a catamaran, with a flat solid-glass underbody, external cast-iron ballast, and twin canted rudders that double as ground supports. The lifting centerboard transforms the boat from a 7-foot-4-inch keelboat to a 2-foot-11-inch beachable shallow draft without sacrificing weatherliness in light air. The trade-offs are real — a compromised cockpit and a corrosion-prone belly pan — but the construction answers the obvious risks, and the interior is a thoughtful, roomy cruising platform.
Pros
- Purpose-designed beaching with 7'4" to 2'11" draft range via lifting centerboard
- Flat one-inch solid-glass bottom and twin canted rudders that take boat weight on the hard
- Excellent helm response from dual rudders on Whitlock rack-and-pinion
- Flexible two- or three-stateroom layouts with two heads and good stowage
Cons
- Cast-iron belly ballast vulnerable to corrosion; needs external inspection
- Small cockpit with high bridge deck; below becomes a vulnerable climb in rough water
- Fixed-keel alternative loses the signature beaching capability
