Design and Construction
The Maxi 33 carries a solid fiberglass hull and a fiberglass sandwich deck, the latter detail doing real work rather than merely saving weight. The sandwich deck construction improves the indoor climate by insulating against cold water and reducing condensation when the sea is colder than the cabin air. The keel itself is iron, formed as a wing keel with a draft that varies between about 4.69 and 4.99 feet depending on load. With a ballast ratio of 40 percent and a displacement-length ratio of 235, she is categorized among moderate racers, and that ballast ratio is higher than 46 percent of all similar sailboat designs. Her length-to-beam ratio of 3.07 makes her beamer than 62 percent of comparable designs, and her capsize screening value is 1.93.
Rig and Handling
The fractional sloop rig is, by the numbers, slightly overrigged: the Maxi 33 carries more rig than 73 percent of all similar sailboats. That overrig is reflected in a relative speed performance of 38, meaning she is faster than 38 percent of similar designs, while her theoretical hull speed is 7.0 knots and her calculated maximum under engine is about 6.3 knots. The standing and running rigging follow period Nordic practice, with 10 mm halyards for main, jib, genoa, and spinnaker at 27.6 meters, 12 mm sheets for jib and genoa at 9.9 meters, a 24.8 meter 12 mm mainsheet, and 10 mm control lines for cunningham, kicking strap, and clew outhaul. The motion comfort ratio falls between 23.0 and 24.5, a band more comfortable than half of all similar sailboat designs, and the immersion rate is about 993 pounds per inch.
Accommodations
Below, the Maxi 33 is fitted with a galley and a teak interior in the manner of her contemporaries. Fresh water capacity is 135 liters, and the fuel tank is stainless steel with a 60-liter capacity. The wetted surface of the hull bottom is about 312 square feet, a figure that bears on both drag and the effort of any bottom work a owner might undertake.
Equipment and Power
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta 2003 diesel of 28 horsepower, driving through a saildrive. That combination yields the cited 6.3-knot maximum under power, a useful reference for close-quarters planning even if the saildrive itself demands the usual seal-attention that such transmissions require.
The Verdict
The Maxi 33 is a Petterson cruiser-racer of moderate disposition: a beamy, slightly overrigged 33-footer with a genuinely useful insulated sandwich deck and a teak interior that speaks to her era. She is not a featherweight, nor a stripped racer, but the ratios place her comfortably ahead of a meaningful share of peers for both space and ballast security.
Pros
- Sandwich deck insulates cabin against cold-water condensation
- Ballast ratio higher than 46 percent of similar designs
- Beamy layout more spacious than 62 percent of comparable boats
- Slightly overrigged fractional sloop for brisk performance
Cons
- Wing-keel draft varies with load up to nearly 5 feet
- Saildrive transmission on the diesel option needs seal vigilance
- Moderate-racer DL-ratio limits her against lighter modern designs
