Design and Construction
Cooper Enterprises built the Maple Leaf 45 as a cruiser from the outset, and the structure reflects that intent. The hull is laid up in fibreglass with a foam core, while the deck is balsa-cored — a sandwich approach that trades some puncture resistance for stiffness and weight savings aloft and underfoot. Wood trim softens the otherwise utilitarian glasswork. The company went out of business in 1990, and the model is now out of production, but the tooling and specification describe a boat conceived without a racing agenda: a 33.21 percent ballast-to-displacement ratio and a 1.85 capsize screening value place her firmly in the voyaging camp rather than the club-racing fleet.
Rig and Handling
The Maple Leaf 45 carries a Bermuda masthead sloop rig with 862 square feet of sail area, a sail-plan proportion that, against her 27,700-pound displacement, yields a sail-area-to-displacement ratio near 15 — enough to keep her moving without demanding a large crew. A raked stem and reverse transom give her a contemporary silhouette for her era, and the skeg-mounted rudder is controlled by a wheel set in a mid-cockpit position, which keeps steering central to the companionway and clear of both the foredeck and the stern. The 52-horsepower diesel is sized for docking and manoeuvring rather than sustained motoring, and the 125-gallon fuel tank supports that auxiliary role. Her hull speed is a calculated 8.23 knots, the figure expected from the 37.75-foot waterline.
Accommodations
Below, the Maple Leaf 45 sleeps seven across a bow double "V"-berth, a main cabin with a straight settee and a drop-down dinette table, and an aft cabin double berth. The U-shaped galley sits to port just forward of the companionway and is equipped with a three-burner stove, an ice box, and a double sink — a working triangle placed where motion is least. Opposite, to starboard, a navigation station faces the galley across the cabin. Two heads serve the layout: one just aft of the bow cabin on the port side, the other on the port side within the aft cabin. The 175-gallon fresh water capacity underpins extended cruising without frequent replenishment.
The Verdict
The Maple Leaf 45 is a straightforward, well-proportioned Huntingford cruiser from the mid-1980s, built by a British Columbia yard that did not survive the decade. She offers a roomy three-berth-layout interior with a practical central galley and dual heads, a conservative masthead rig, and a ballast profile suited to offshore work rather than the race course. The balsa-cored deck and foam-cored hull are period-correct but demand the usual sandwich scrutiny. For a buyer seeking a 45-foot liveaboard-capable cruiser with a defined sleeping plan and a mid-cockpit wheel, she remains a coherent proposition.
Pros
- Seven-berth layout with bow, main, and aft cabins plus two heads
- Foam-cored hull and balsa-cored deck for stiffness at modest weight
- 175-gallon water and 125-gallon fuel capacity for extended cruising
- Conservative masthead sloop rig with 862 sq ft of sail
Cons
- Builder ceased production in 1990; no factory support
- Balsa-cored deck requires sandwich-integrity inspection
- 52 hp diesel sized only for docking and manoeuvring
