Chien Hwa Boat Builders produced eighty-five hulls in Taiwan between 1981 and 1991. Reviewers writing in Follow the Horizon noted that the 38 remains one of the few sailboats from a naval architect better known for luxury trawlers in the Kadey-Krogen 38 review.
Design and Construction
Krogen conceived the 38 as an ideal sailing cruiser for shallow grounds such as Florida and the Caribbean, and the hull reflects that brief. The tandem-centerboard version draws just 3 feet 2 inches with the boards up and 6 feet 8 inches with them down. A separate keel version was offered with a 5-foot draft.
The builder described the hull laminate as closed-cell PVC with a heavy hand lay-up of mat and roving. The rudder is a fiberglass, skeg-hung unit. The centerboard model carries 7,000 pounds of encapsulated lead ballast, while the deep-keel variant uses iron.
The earliest hulls were acknowledged as less refined, but the yard continued improving its methods, and most later boats left with a quality lay-up. This improvement came through steadily better construction techniques rather than a single redesign.
Above the waterline, the boat has a classic clipper bow and a pirate-stern look with trailboards. She’s also beamy for her length.
Rig and Handling
The 38 is cutter-rigged. Krogen’s own words, quoted in the Jordan Yacht Brokerage review, capture her sailing character better than a specification sheet: he called her fun to sail, quick to respond, and stiff in a stiff wind. He also said she could sneak over roughly three feet of water, could be handled by two people without trouble, and practically sailed herself with the tandem centerboards.
Krogen raced his personal 1987 boat, Pelican, and loved the design. His yacht was later converted to a ketch, and its cockpit was lengthened by removing the aft berth. Those changes showed that the platform could absorb considerable alteration without losing its essential gunkholing character.
Accommodations
Below, the 38 has teak veneer, teak-and-holly soles, and warm solid-teak hatches overhead. The joinery amounts to a symphony of beautiful teak.
The standard layout places a V-berth forward, with the head and saloon amidships. Aft, the galley is to starboard, while an unusual athwartship berth sits to port. The result is a warm, traditional cruising interior rather than a modern open plan, well suited to extended shallow-water wandering.
Propulsion and Known Issues
Propulsion is the best-documented shortcoming. The original 30 HP Pathfinder diesel left the boat underpowered—an odd result for a design from an architect mainly associated with powerboats. The yard soon moved to the Perkins 4-108 and later the 4-108 Perkins 50 HP and the Westebeke W46, but those engines were also considered a bit underpowered.
Construction quality is the other main caveat. Early Chien Hwa hulls weren’t as well built as later boats, though the yard narrowed that gap by continuously improving its techniques.
Ownership
Of the eighty-five boats built, many were still treasured as gunkholing cruisers for Florida and the Caribbean—a sign of enduring affection for this limited-production design. Fuel is carried in stainless-steel tanks. The centerboard machinery and skeg-hung rudder deserve an owner’s attention, but the teak-rich interior and shallow draft have kept the boats in quiet demand among cruisers who value access to thin water.
The Verdict
The Kadey-Krogen 38 is a designer’s personal statement: a beamy, shallow-draft cutter that trades outright speed for access to waters closed to deeper-keel boats, all wrapped in a warm, traditional teak interior. Limited production and an improving construction record make the later hulls the safer bet. The history of underpowered engines remains the persistent caveat.
Pros
- Tandem centerboards provide a 3'2" shoal draft with the boards raised and 6'8" of offshore grip with them lowered
- Traditional teak interior with an unusual athwartship aft berth
- Designed by Krogen for his own shallow-water cruising
Cons
- Both the original and later engines were regarded as underpowered
- Early hulls from the Taiwanese yard were less well built than later boats
