Frers produced a more performance-oriented yacht that was easy to steer and well balanced, yet still offered great comfort for long-distance cruising. Compared with earlier production Hallberg-Rassys, the 34 delivered greatly improved performance. It has won many races but also carries CE category A certification for unlimited ocean voyages.
Design and Construction
The Hallberg-Rassy 34 measures 33 feet 9 inches overall, with a waterline length of 28 feet 6 inches and a beam of 11 feet 3 inches. Displacement is 11,684 pounds, including 4,630 pounds of lead in a bulbed fin keel.
The hull is solid fiberglass below the waterline. Above it, foam insulation effectively creates cored topsides. A grid of fiberglass floors and stringers supports the structure, which also includes a deep bilge sump. The lead keel is bolted diagonally to a short stub with ten stainless bolts.
A large spade rudder wraps around a beefy stainless stock running in heavy roller bearings. Hallberg-Rassy also glassed the hull-and-deck joint over a mechanical and chemical bond to keep it watertight.
Shallow molded bulwarks, capped by a domed teak toerail, help shed water and keep the crew aboard. Intricate nonskid provides secure footing when moving around the deck in a blow. Vertical, copper-lined drains just inside the toerail carry water overboard through seacocks at their lower ends, a detail tied to the boat’s Germanischer Lloyd A100 rating.
The mooring cleats are through-bolted to the teak capping rather than the deck, with copper strips protecting the wood from chafe. Teak decks were standard. Hallberg-Rassy’s trademark windscreen, with an opening centre panel, shelters the cockpit, while the halyards pass through its base to coachroof jammers.
Rig and Sailing Qualities
The 34 is fractionally rigged, though only just: it carries a seven-eighths, double-spreader sloop rig on deck-stepped Seldén spars. This sturdy fractional arrangement and Frers’ efficient keel marked a departure from the Hallberg-Rassy 36’s configuration.
The mainsheet traveller spans the cockpit bridgedeck, and all halyards and reefing lines can be controlled from the cockpit. A sleek spinnaker pole remains permanently mounted on the mast, and the rig doesn’t require running backstays.
Test sailors rated both maneuvering and sailing qualities as excellent. As the boat heels and accelerates, it develops a comfortable weather helm. It responds well to trimming, with pleasant pressure on the rudder and very good balance.
Frers’ own speed diagram shows the boat reaching at over 8 knots without a spinnaker and approaching 9 knots with the chute flying. Upwind, it makes more than 6 knots in moderate breeze and seas.
With nearly 40 percent of its weight in the keel, the boat has a low centre of gravity and is extremely stiff. The balanced rudder sits well aft and holds control even when running before big seas. Period testers noted that the boat’s best qualities emerge in very bad conditions.
Interior and Accommodations
Below, the interior is finished throughout in matte red-brown mahogany, with no visible fiberglass. The workmanship is excellent: every joint is made to last, and details include finely laminated edges and louvered cupboard fronts. Interior volume is very well distributed, with good headroom and elbow room.
The layout changed during the production run. Early boats had a long, straight galley opposite the settee. When Hallberg-Rassy shortened the cockpit in the mid-1990s, the interior was extended. Later boats gained a small but highly functional L-shaped galley aft to port, equipped with two deep sinks, a stove and oven, and a 12-volt fridge.
The head is opposite, with the navigation station forward. A good-sized fore-and-aft double cabin aft is reached through the galley. In the bow, the spacious V-berth has hanging lockers and drawers.
In the saloon, an L-shaped settee and drop-leaf table can seat a crowd by 34-footer standards. The hinged back of the port settee lifts to create a wide berth, with a lee cloth strapped overhead.
Production Changes, Engine, and Ownership
Hallberg-Rassy improved the boat step by step throughout its production run. The first hulls lacked the fixed windscreen. In 1994, a molded swim platform opened the transom, and the cockpit seat backs were softened for greater comfort.
Most Hallberg-Rassy 34s left the factory with tiller steering and a factory-fitted Autohelm Tillerpilot. Pedestal-and-wheel steering was typically added later as a retrofit.
The standard engine was a Volvo Penta MD2030 diesel with saildrive, described as extremely reliable and very fuel-efficient. Access from behind the companionway is adequate. Some early engines showed a little vibration, but this was corrected during the production run.
Owners report fuel consumption of around half a gallon per hour at 6 knots in flat seas. Testers also praised the engine bay’s good air intake and sound insulation.
The Hallberg-Rassy 34 carries a high purchase price, but its well-known build quality and very good second-hand value make it a low-depreciation proposition.
Verdict
The Hallberg-Rassy 34 is a sailboat first and a refined cruiser as well. Germán Frers replaced the yard’s old centre-cockpit, masthead-rigged formula with a nimble, stiff, quick fractional sloop, while retaining ocean-capable certification and a warm, durable mahogany interior.
It can reward both racers and distance cruisers, and its documented resale strength reflects the quality of its construction.
Pros
- Greatly improved performance over earlier Hallberg-Rassys, with stiff, well-balanced handling and documented reaching speeds above 8 knots
- CE category A ocean rating, a solid hull below the waterline with cored topsides, and Germanischer Lloyd A100 deck drainage
- Excellent mahogany joinery, a practical berth layout, and a user-friendly L-shaped galley on later boats
- Reliable, efficient Volvo Penta MD2030 saildrive and strong second-hand value
Cons
- Some early engines had a reported vibration issue, though it was corrected later in the production run
- Most boats were delivered with tiller steering; wheel steering was typically a retrofit
- Because the cockpit was shortened mid-run, early boats have less interior space than later hulls
