Design and Construction
The Snowgoose 35 is a multihull with a solid, hand-laid fiberglass hull and deck. This construction keeps off-season maintenance—and maintenance during the sailing season—to a minimum.
With 15 feet of beam on a 35-foot length, her length-to-beam ratio is 2.35. That makes her slimmer than 90 percent of comparable sailing catamarans. The narrow beam also helps explain one owner’s observation that she feels less settled at anchor in a beam-on swell than today’s wider designs.
Her displacement-length ratio of 132 places her among “light racers.” One design summary described this as a precise average ratio between displacement and length for her type. Loaded weight is about 4.5 tonnes, while draft ranges from roughly 2.75 to 3 feet, depending on load.
The rudder stocks originally carried a mechanical tie bar outside the transom. One longtime owner would prefer to see it brought inside the hull.
Rig, Handling, and Performance
The cutter rig, with its aft-set mast, keeps individual sails manageable. Both headsails are on furlers, and all control lines lead to the cockpit. That arrangement is a large part of why owners describe the Snowgoose 35 as easy to sail single-handed.
She can be quick under canvas. One owner logged 16 knots while surfing down waves in about 28 knots of wind. The same owner reported 9.5 knots downwind under a symmetric spinnaker, although normal spinnaker speeds settle around 6 to 8 knots. On a beam reach in 16 knots, the boat made 7.5 knots. In 20 knots true, she approached 8 knots downwind with the genoa and staysail poled out. Passage averages range from 5.5 to 6.5 knots.
The large genoa is a limitation in stronger winds. Furling it spoils its shape and pointing ability, and when it’s triple-reefed, the tacking angle widens so much that the boat can lose ground.
Bridge-deck clearance is otherwise a non-issue, except when punching into waves. In 2-meter beam seas, however, the boat can feel rocky.
Accommodations and Visibility
Owners describe the Snowgoose 35 as small enough to inspire confidence when working on her, yet large enough for comfortable liveaboard use. The standard layout sleeps six. It includes a spacious galley and a head described as having more room than needed, while the saloon has two benches.
The aft cabins are the weak point. One owner calls them crawl spaces, with no head height over the berths, although some boats were later converted to a stateroom arrangement.
Visibility is another compromise. The cockpit sits very low in the hull, and one owner describes general visibility while docking as atrocious. The best sightlines come from inside the saloon or the master berth rather than from the cockpit.
Machinery and Refits
On at least one boat, a Yanmar 3GM30 was shoehorned into the engine bay and paired with a steerable Sillette drive leg. The installation delivers surprising maneuverability and a motoring speed of 6 knots, topping out near 7.5 knots in perfect conditions.
Some boats have also received an aftermarket in-mast furling system. The external rudder tie bar remains another detail that one owner would relocate inside the transom.
The Verdict
The Snowgoose 35 is a slender, light-displacement cruising catamaran that combines straightforward short-handed sailing with performance that punches above her length. In return, she asks her crew to accept compromises in cockpit visibility and aft-cabin comfort—areas later, beamier catamarans addressed.
Pros
- Slimmer hull form than most comparable catamarans
- Easy to handle short-handed
- Low-maintenance solid fiberglass construction
- Quick on most points of sail, with modest rig loads
- Spacious galley and an oversized head for the boat’s footprint
Cons
- Low cockpit with poor all-around visibility
- Cramped aft berths that lack standing headroom
- Large genoa loses shape and hurts windward performance when furled in stronger air
