Design and Construction
The hull is solid, hand-laid fiberglass. The boat displaces 9,500 pounds and carries 4,480 pounds of lead ballast, giving it a ballast-to-displacement ratio of 47 percent and a stiff platform.
With a length-to-beam ratio of 3.01, the Ranger 32 carries a beam of 10 feet 10 inches on a 25-foot-10-inch waterline. Review data place its interior volume above 66 percent of comparable designs, giving it a more spacious interior than most peers.
The fin keel draws between 5.18 and 5.48 feet, depending on load, keeping the boat within most marina limits.
Rig and Handling
The Ranger 32 is a masthead sloop with 449 square feet of sail on a 45-foot mast. It is slightly underrigged: its rig area exceeds that of only 46 percent of similar boats. The theoretical hull speed is 6.8 knots, while wetted surface is 312 square feet and the immersion rate is 970 pounds per inch.
The mainsail, jib, and spinnaker halyards are each about 94 feet long and 3/8 inch in diameter. Jib and genoa sheets are 32.5 feet long and 1/2 inch in diameter; the mainsheet is 81 feet long, and the spinnaker sheet is 71.5 feet.
Accommodations and Engine
No source itemizes the Ranger 32’s tankage or berth count. Even so, Mull’s 3.01 length-to-beam ratio and the boat’s volume advantage over two-thirds of its peers give it a cabin footprint that punches above its waterline.
Auxiliary power comes from a Universal Atomic 4 gasoline engine rated at 30 horsepower.
Production and Ownership
Ranger Yachts was founded in 1970 and acquired by Bangor Punta in 1973. The company then passed to Lear Siegler in 1984. The sailboat line was dissolved in 1987, and most of the original molds were destroyed.
The boat remained a solid-fiberglass hull with a gasoline Atomic 4. Its 147-unit run was small, but large enough that parts boats exist.
The Verdict
The Ranger 32 is a clean Mull design with above-average interior room and an uneventful defect history. It is slightly undercanvased, but remains a balanced cruiser-racer.
Pros
- Roomy interior, exceeding 66 percent of comparable designs
- Solid-fiberglass hull
- Moderate fin-keel draft that fits most marinas
- Stiff platform with a 47 percent ballast ratio
Cons
- Slightly underrigged compared with its peers
- Gasoline Atomic 4 rather than a diesel
- Small production run limits fleet support
