Design and Construction
The Rival 36 has a solid fiberglass hull laid up to Lloyd’s 100A1 structural standard. It also uses the signature keyhole-bulkhead arrangement that gave Brett’s Rival range rigidity around the companionway.
The boat displaces 14,250 pounds on a 27'2" waterline and has an 11-foot beam. A Displacement/Length Ratio of 317 puts it firmly in the ultra-heavy displacement category. Its 39.2 percent Ballast/Displacement Ratio reflects 5,580 pounds of lead carried low in the keel. That weight also gives the Rival 36 considerable load-carrying ability: loading it up hardly affects its performance.
The standard underwater configuration combines a lead-ballasted fin keel with a skeg-hung rudder. Rival also offered a shoal-draft Scheel-keel version and the centreboard 36C variant, which had a slightly shorter mast.
The Capsize Screening Formula is given as 1.82, placing the Rival 36 below the 2.0 figure and marking it as a safer candidate for ocean passages than a boat exceeding that threshold. The sailing press reviewed the design positively, praising its heavy-weather comfort, proven seakeeping ability, and solid construction.
Rig and Handling
A cutter rig was standard, while a furling headsail was optional, allowing owners some flexibility in how they set up and balance the sail plan.
With a Sail Area/Displacement Ratio of 15.7, the Rival 36 needs a stiff breeze to get going. Motor-sailing may be necessary in light conditions. The ballast ratio steadies the boat downwind. The boat will also tend to heel excessively in a gust and should be reefed early in a moderate breeze.
Ted Brewer’s Comfort Ratio of 30.4 puts its motion in a seaway close to that of a moderate bluewater cruising boat. Combined with the heavy displacement, this points to a boat intended more for steadiness and load-carrying than lively light-air performance.
Accommodation and Ownership
As an aft-cockpit cutter of just under 36 feet, the Rival 36 follows Brett’s keyhole-bulkhead interior logic.
The Rival Owners Association provides a useful point of contact for the 78 hulls afloat, particularly given the boat’s limited production. The company that built the Rival 36 passed through takeovers and mergers involving Bowman, Starlight, and Rustler before production ceased in the early 1990s. The design itself remains Brett’s final statement on the marque he founded.
The Verdict
The Rival 36 is a genuinely heavy-displacement cruiser, built in small numbers and designed by the man who started Rival. It isn’t a light-air performer and needs early reefing, but its seakeeping, structural certification, and forgiving load-carrying ability mark it as a serious passage boat for sailors who value steadiness over sparkle.
Pros
- Lloyd’s 100A1 solid-GRP construction and the rigidity of a keyhole-bulkhead layout
- Capsize Screening Formula of 1.82 and proven heavy-weather comfort
- Ultra-heavy displacement carries loads with hardly any effect on performance
- Rare centreboard and Scheel-keel variants broaden the boat’s cruising range
Cons
- Sail Area/Displacement Ratio of 15.7 means it needs wind or motor-sailing
- Tends to heel excessively in gusts, requiring early reefing
- Only 78 were built, limiting familiarity within the spares network
