Design and Construction
Robert Clark's 1973 design produced a solid, seaworthy boat built by Nordcantieri in fiberglass with a solid hull and deck — no core, no gimmicks, just a monohull with a fin keel and spade rudder beneath a ketch rig. The numbers tell part of the story: a 40.39-foot waterline gives a hull speed near 8.5 knots, and a capsize ratio of 1.6 with a comfort ratio above 41 places her firmly in the offshore-capable band rather than the weekend-bay category. Clark's lines produced a vessel that period reviewers on both sides of the language divide described as a true offshore performance-cruiser, capable as demonstrated of taking her owners around the world anchor.
Racing Heritage
The Koala 50 became famous thanks to the CS&RB, the model modified by Doi and Franco Malingri to participate in the first Whitbread anchor. That modified boat finished eighth in the inaugural Whitbread around-the-world race, a result that anchored the production design's reputation as something more than a comfortable charter hull. The connection between Clark's original cruising ketch and a race-proven offshore record is not incidental — the same hull form that carried private owners across oceans also carried a stripped and tuned sister ship into the history of global ocean racing.
Rig and Handling
Rigged as a ketch, the Koala 50 carries 1,410 square feet of sail area against her 36,376-pound displacement, a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 20.55 that suggests balanced, manageable power rather than overcanvased urgency. The ketch configuration splits drive between main and mizzen, a sensible choice for a boat of this length and ballast profile when shorthanded or when trimming for sustained tradewind passages. Her spade rudder and fin keel give directional control appropriate to a performance-cruiser, and the 7.05-foot draft keeps her within reach of Mediterranean and Aegean anchorages despite the lead-ballast depth.
Accommodations
The 13.25-foot beam and 50.2-foot length provide the volume envelope for a three-cabin owner layout or alternative configurations. The solid fiberglass construction and 75-horsepower diesel single drive speak to a boat built to support liveaboard distance cruising rather than seasonal daysailing.
The Verdict
The Koala 50 is a Robert Clark design from 1973 that proved itself both as a world-cruising ketch and as the basis for an eighth-place Whitbread finisher. She is a solid, seaworthy boat with the numbers and the lineage to back serious passage-making, and her ketch rig remains a practical offshore choice. Each hull must be inspected individually for layout, but the hull and its record need no apology.
Pros
- True offshore performance-cruiser capable of circumnavigation
- Solid fiberglass hull and deck with lead ballast
- Ketch rig suited to shorthanded and long-passage sailing
- Whitbread racing heritage via the CS&RB modification
Cons
- Limited documented detail on accommodations and layout variations
