Design and Construction
The hull designated S/Y100 represented a deliberate step into the modern era. GRP construction and separated skeg-hung rudder were innovations that broke from the wooden-hulled cruiser-racers Ohlson had previously developed, and the choice of Tyler Boats of Tonbridge, Kent as the primary moulder was no accident. Tyler was renowned for its heavy-duty laminates and structural integrity — firms that built long before computer-aided stress analysis allowed engineers to pare back laminate schedules. The consequence is a hull thickness that modern production boats simply do not attempt, offering an immense sense of security when cruising in areas where floating debris or poorly charted rocks might be a concern.
The defining geometry is a traditional deep-V hull form with elegant long overhangs and a beam of just over ten feet — narrow by any modern standard. Final fitting-out was spread across prestigious yards including Matthiessen & Paulsen in Germany, Alexander Robertson of Argyll in Scotland, and Bröderna Ölsonner in Sweden (later to become Malö Yachts), with the result that build quality and interior finish vary noticeably across the fleet. German and Swedish-built boats often featured wooden decks, while the majority of production delivered GRP topsides. The spread of builders across Europe also means hull numbers are not always easy to trace; The Ohlson Project has identified 128 boats built in total.
Rig and Performance Under Sail
Ohlson supplied sail plans calibrated to satisfy RORC, CCA, and IOR racing formulae, achieved by varying boom length while keeping the mast and foretriangle essentially constant. Both sloop and yawl rigs were offered, the yawl being particularly attractive to US clients. The masthead sloop configuration that most boats carry today is characterised by a large foretriangle — and the weight of the rig places real demands on standing rigging, making oversized and well-maintained shrouds essential for offshore work.
The narrow waterline delivers the boat's most celebrated virtue. Where a beamy modern hull fights the helm as it heels and distorts its underwater shape, the Ohlson 38 remains balanced and light throughout its heel range. The 6,000-pound lead keel produces a ballast-to-displacement ratio exceeding 40 percent, ensuring high initial and ultimate stability without relying on beam for form stability. The capsize screening figure of 1.67 places her statistically very resistant to capsize by offshore passage-making standards, while the Brewer Motion Comfort Ratio of 35 predicts the slow, predictable motion in a seaway that defines her reputation for keeping crew functional on long passages. She is emphatically not a light-airs boat; her moderate sail-area-to-displacement ratio means she is no light-airs flyer but carries her canvas well in a breeze.
Offshore Record
No discussion of the Ohlson 38 can avoid Clare Francis and Robertson's Golly. The 1976 OSTAR was one of the most brutal on record, plagued by a series of North Atlantic depressions that drove much of the fleet to retire with structural failures or through sheer exhaustion. Francis finished 13th overall from a field of 125 starters, covering the crossing in under thirty days and setting a new women's single-handed transatlantic record. The voyage was not merely a feat of personal endurance; it was a practical demonstration of the Ohlson 38's ability to maintain high average speeds in punishing conditions while keeping its skipper relatively safe and dry. Beyond that signature result, Ohlson 38s have crossed the Atlantic and Pacific and circumnavigated the globe repeatedly — a record of sustained offshore use that few production designs of any era can equal.
Accommodation and Cruising Characteristics
The interior reflects the boat's racing origins without apology. A sea-going galley to one side of the companionway and a proper navigation station to the other define the layout at the companionway; the main saloon features settee berths with pilot berths above — a configuration vastly superior for sleeping while underway compared to the large island doubles found on modern coastal cruisers. The joinery, especially on German-finished boats, is often of a very high standard, with rich mahoganies and teak throughout.
The cockpit is deep and well-protected, and the small volume is a genuine virtue offshore: a pooping sea cannot dangerously weigh down the stern. But the honest appraisal is that the Ohlson 38 feels more like a modern 32-footer inside — headroom is limited by today's expectations, and stowage does not reflect blue-water passages measured in weeks rather than days. Prospective owners routinely find they need to supplement the original water and fuel tanks for long-range voyaging.
Known Issues and Areas to Inspect
The age of the fleet concentrates risk in predictable places. Like many hulls of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Ohlson 38 can be susceptible to osmotic blistering if the gelcoat was not properly maintained, though the thickness of Tyler laminate means this is rarely structural. Under power, the combination of a long-ish keel and propeller placement produces significant prop walk, which can be harnessed by an experienced skipper but may be intimidating for a novice — reverse manoeuvring demands attention. The areas of highest structural stress are the chainplates and the mast step, and both should be surveyed with care on any pre-purchase inspection. Later boats built as the Tuffglass 38 directly by Tyler had bolt-on cast-iron keels rather than the original encapsulated lead ballast, a modification made to reduce build costs that also affected tankage volume above the keel; these boats deserve additional scrutiny at the keel-to-hull joint.
Refit Priorities
Engines are an almost universal concern. Many original boats were fitted with underpowered units, and a working upgrade to a modern 30–40 hp diesel is the most commonly encountered improvement across the fleet. Standing rigging on boats that have not been kept actively offshore should be treated as life-expired; the loads a heavy-displacement hull generates in a seaway are substantial, and the consequences of a rig failure at sea on a boat this heavy are severe. Control line leads to the cockpit and a high-quality windvane or autopilot are the standard modifications for single-handed sailing, and the boat's inherent balance makes both work well. The rig itself is notably adaptable: boom length was varied across the production run to meet different racing handicap rules, and owners setting up the boat for passage-making will often find opportunity to optimise the sail plan without touching the mast.
The Verdict
The Ohlson 38 is one of the more honest boats to have emerged from the transition between the wooden-hulled racing yacht and the GRP production cruiser. It does not pretend to offer the living volume of a modern 38-footer, and it makes no concessions to the fashion for wide sterns and shallow keels. What it offers instead is a hull refined by tank-testing and Olympic-class experience, built to a laminate thickness no longer commercially viable, and validated by decades of ocean passages in conditions that have humbled far more recent designs. For a couple who sail to get somewhere rather than to arrive in comfort, it remains a serious choice.
Pros
- Ballast ratio above 40 percent and low capsize figure give genuine offshore safety margins
- Heavy solid-GRP laminate provides structural reserves that modern production boats cannot replicate
- Inherent helm balance and directional stability make her manageable short-handed and under a windvane
- Deep-V hull slices through head seas rather than slamming, reducing crew fatigue on long passages
- Pilot berths in the saloon are purpose-built for offshore sleeping watches
- A proven circumnavigation and transatlantic record spanning decades
Cons
- Interior volume is significantly smaller than a modern 38-footer of equivalent length
- Original water and fuel tankage is inadequate for extended passage-making without supplementing
- Prop walk in reverse requires confidence and experience in tight quarters
- Chainplates, mast step, and keel attachment (on later bolt-on-keel boats) require careful survey
- Light-air performance is modest; she needs a breeze to show her best
