Design and Lineage
Michel Joubert and Bernard Nivelt drew the 352 in 1988, continuing a long collaboration with Gibert Marine that had already produced the Gib'Sea 28 and 126. The boat sat at the smaller end of the yard's cruiser range and was launched into a market dominated by the Oceanis and Sun Odyssey ranges. Yachting Monthly noted that the 352 struggled to compete with those ranges and that sales were disappointing anchor, a fate that kept her in production for only about five years.
Construction
The 352 followed the yard's late-1980s practice of solid fiberglass hull laminates with a balsa-cored deck, and the period construction used an inward-turning hull flange fastened to the deck with mechanical fasteners and adhesive. The shallow iron fin keel with skeg-hung rudder gave her a modest 4' 0" draught in standard form, with the deeper 5' 7" keel available for those wanting more grip to windward. At 9,700 lbs displacement (one source cites 9,259 lb) and a 25.77 ballast-displacement ratio, she was a moderately loaded cruiser rather than a lightweight racer.
Rig and Handling
Her sloop rig carried a stated 652 sq ft of sail area on a 34' 7" hull, producing a sail-area-to-displacement ratio around 17.3 — enough to keep her moving in a cruise breeze without demanding a large crew. The skeg-hung rudder and fin keel gave predictable steering, and the 28 BHP Yanmar 3GM30 diesel (almost universally fitted across the fleet) provided auxiliary power for maneuvering and battery charging.
Accommodations
The 352 was offered in two interior layouts. The Master, or owner's version, used a single large aft cabin and a rather larger heads aft, while preserving more space in the forecabin. The charter version instead ran twin aft cabins around a large outward-facing chart table and a spacious saloon, with a compact heads moved forward that cost the forecabin some room. Yachting Monthly described the owner's form as not a bad family cruiser anchor, and the twin aft cabins in the charter layout were only marginally smaller than the single Master cabin. Buyers should note that the twin-cabin arrangement much reduced cockpit locker space compared with the Master version.
The Verdict
The Gib'Sea 352 is a spacious, reasonably well-equipped cruiser aimed mainly at the charter trade but with a credible owner's layout. Her Joubert-Nivelt pedigree and solid construction make her a sensible small-family voyager, though soft sales in her day mean fewer examples afloat than her rivals in the Oceanis and Sun Odyssey ranges.
Pros
- Two genuine layout choices: Master aft-cabin or charter twin-aft
- Beam and waterline give a roomy, modern interior for 35 ft
- Almost all fitted with Yanmar 3GM30 diesel simplifies spares
Cons
- Disappointing original sales limited the fleet size
- Twin-cabin version sacrifices cockpit stowage
- Charter layout loses forecabin space to a forward heads
