Design and Construction
The Maple Leaf 45 is 45 feet overall, with a 37.75-foot waterline and a 14-foot beam. Displacement is 27,700 pounds, including 9,200 pounds of ballast. Its fixed fin keel draws 6.25 feet.
Cooper Enterprises built the boat 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. This sandwich construction trades some puncture resistance for stiffness and weight savings aloft and underfoot. Wood trim softens the otherwise utilitarian glasswork.
The tooling and specifications describe a boat conceived without a racing agenda. A 33.21 percent ballast-to-displacement ratio and a 1.85 capsize screening value place it firmly in the voyaging camp rather than the club-racing fleet.
Rig, Steering, and Performance
The Maple Leaf 45 carries a Bermuda masthead sloop rig with 862 square feet of sail area. Against its 27,700-pound displacement, that produces a sail-area-to-displacement ratio near 15—enough to keep the boat moving without demanding a large crew.
A raked stem and reverse transom give the boat a contemporary silhouette for its era. The skeg-mounted rudder is controlled by a wheel in a mid-cockpit position, keeping the helm central to the companionway and clear of both the foredeck and stern.
The 52-horsepower diesel is sized for docking and manoeuvring rather than sustained motoring, while the 125-gallon fuel tank supports that auxiliary role. Calculated hull speed is 8.23 knots, as expected from the 37.75-foot waterline.
Accommodations
The Maple Leaf 45 sleeps seven in a bow double “V”-berth, the main cabin, and an aft double berth. The saloon has a straight settee and a drop-down dinette table.
The U-shaped galley sits to port just forward of the companionway, where the boat’s motion is least. It includes a three-burner stove, an ice box, and a double sink. Opposite, a navigation station faces the galley from the starboard side of the cabin.
Two heads serve the interior. One is just aft of the bow cabin on the port side; the other is on the port side within the aft cabin. Fresh-water capacity is 175 gallons, supporting extended cruising without frequent replenishment.
Verdict
The Maple Leaf 45 is a straightforward, well-proportioned Huntingford cruiser from the mid-1980s, built by a British Columbia yard that didn’t survive the decade. It offers a roomy three-berth-layout interior with a practical central galley and two heads, along with a conservative masthead rig and a ballast profile suited to offshore work rather than the racecourse.
The balsa-cored deck and foam-cored hull are period-correct but require the usual scrutiny of sandwich construction. For a buyer seeking a 45-foot, liveaboard-capable cruiser with a defined sleeping plan and a mid-cockpit wheel, the Maple Leaf 45 remains a coherent proposition.
Pros
- Seven-berth layout across the bow, main, and aft cabins, plus two heads
- Foam-cored hull and balsa-cored deck provide stiffness at modest weight
- 175-gallon water and 125-gallon fuel capacities suit extended cruising
- Conservative masthead sloop rig with 862 sq ft of sail
Cons
- Builder ceased production in 1990, leaving no factory support
- Balsa-cored deck requires inspection for sandwich integrity
- 52 hp diesel is sized only for docking and manoeuvring
