Pearson Alberg 35 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Alberg 35 is a narrow, deep-bodied long-keel sloop with just about perfectly balanced long overhangs forward and aft, a low rounded cabin trunk with a slightly raised doghouse, and a handsome sheer that was flattish for its day yet now reads as old-fashioned and springy beside contemporary 35-footers. The hull is a heavy uncored fiberglass layup—not especially stiff or strong for its weight, but straightforward to repair—while the deck is fiberglass with balsa coring. Early hulls frequently used edge-grain rather than end-grain balsa in the deck, and flexing of those cores can break the bond between the fiberglass skins and the balsa. The ballast is a single lead casting dropped into the hollow fiberglass keel molding, and the rudder is a wooden blade bolted to a heavy bronze rod shaped to the aft edge of the prop aperture, with the rudder itself canted well forward of the stern.

Rig and Handling

Both sloop and yawl versions were built, each carrying simple, fairly heavy aluminum masts with the stick stepped on deck over the forward cabin doorway; a varnished spruce roller-reefing main boom was standard, and the rig is a masthead sloop with a large, low-aspect-ratio mainsail and 545 square feet of reported sail area. The narrow, slack hull heels very quickly despite a 42-percent ballast-to-displacement ratio, and she will be sailing at close to a 30-degree angle of heel in 15 knots of true breeze upwind. Because the rudder sits well forward, it can take a lot of helm to hold course when reaching in a breeze, yet owners report that the boat tracks well, a quality absent in many newer designs. The same forward rudder and aperture-mounted prop make her back down poorly. Narrowness and depth pay off in seakeeping: the hull form yields about 135 degrees of positive stability and an easy motion in a seaway.

Accommodations

Below, the Alberg 35 was offered in two interiors—a traditional layout and a dinette arrangement—though both feel cramped to anyone accustomed to modern condo-style 35-foot interiors. Each has a large forward cabin with V-berths (6'5" long), a hanging locker, a bureau, and drawers, lit and ventilated by two bronze-framed opening ports and a hatch; headroom runs 6'0" forward and 6'4" in the main cabin, where 6'4" berths and dressers in both cabins support the six-berth standard. The head aft of the forward cabin runs the full beam with two opening ports and a pair of Dorade cowl vents. The boat was one of the first of its size with standard hot and cold pressure water and a shower. Teak and mahogany trim warms the saloon, and many large lockers stow gear, sails, and oilskins. In the dinette version the table lowers to form a double, two quarterberths extend under the cockpit as sea berths, and the stove well took a three-burner gimbaled stove with oven; the conventional aft galley instead carried a two-burner alcohol stove and a small single sink, with counters set low by the boat's modest freeboard. Ventilation in the main cabin exists only through the companionway hatch.

Known Issues

Several owners in surveys note that the coring under the mast has crushed, letting the cabin top compress, a hazard of the deck structure around the stepped mast. Big port and starboard cockpit lockers have poor locking arrangements and drain straight to the bilge. Along the bottom of the keel, some boats show a void between the lead casting and the fiberglass shell, leaving the shell exposed to damage on grounding. Early hulls fitted with galvanized fuel and water tanks will eventually rust through; late-production specifications call for an integral 48-gallon fiberglass water tank in the bilge and a 23-gallon monel fuel tank under the cockpit sole.

Refits and Ownership

The standard tiller eats cockpit space, though most survivors now carry the optional pedestal wheel steering. Several owners have added bowsprits to convert sloops to cutter rigs with yankee and staysail. All boats left the factory with the 30 HP Atomic 4 gasoline engine, but Universal Motors built a Mini 4 diesel as a literal bolt-in replacement, and there is ample room in the engine box under the companionway to fit a new diesel. There was originally no mainsheet traveler.

The Verdict

The Alberg 35 is a genuine small ocean cruiser with an easy motion, commendable stability, and a tracker's composure that modern beamy boats often lack. She is slow by current standards (a typical PHRF of 198) and cramped below, and her deck and keel details demand a careful survey—but for a sailor wanting a classic Alberg long-keel character in a 35-foot package, few designs of the era deliver the same pedigree.

Pros

Easy motion and about 135 degrees of positive stability from the narrow, deep hull
Tracks well and holds a course in the hands of a capable skipper
One of the first 35-footers with standard pressure water and shower
Bolt-in diesel path from the Atomic 4 via the Universal Mini 4

Cons