Design and Construction
Edmunds' hull carries short overhangs, a relatively flat sheer, a long fin keel, and a spade rudder hung on a skeg—a conservative cruiser-racer profile for its era. The structure beneath that profile is equally conservative: a hand-laid fiberglass laminate with internal lead ballast, a balsa-cored deck, and a conventional inward-turning hull-to-deck flange shielded by an aluminum toerail. S2's wider practice of using fabric hull liners informs the 9.2's execution; the liner here is a neutral polypropylene treated to resist mildew, and survey examination found it absorbs virtually no water and shrugs off stains. The rest of the interior is teak veneer plywood, Formica, and solid teak trim with good workmanship. On deck, the layout earns its praise for details like anchor wells, bow fittings, and tidy halyard runs, though the walkways forward are somewhat narrow and the cockpit's moderate depth balances comfort against safety with solid grab rails and a properly sized wheel.
Rig and Handling
The 9.2 A is a masthead sloop with a reported 468 square feet of sail and a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 16.41—easy to sail, with a good balance between main and jib. Standard rigging paired a deck-stepped Kenyon spar with North sails, later Hall or Offshore spars. A tested example carried internal halyards, reef lines and outhaul, a Harken mainsheet traveler, Lewmar #8 halyard winches, and two-speed Lewmar #30 jib-sheet winches, and the running rigging and deck hardware are well set up. The tenderness is the boat's defining sailing trait: the 4,000-pound ballast is 41 percent of displacement yet contributes to the boat's reputation for tenderness, and when testers sailed a shoal-draft example their initial reaction was surprise at its tenderness, an observation owners in survey echo for the shoal model and, in some numbers, even for the deeper draft. Several owners report reducing sail fairly early to keep her on her feet. A shoal-draft boat with worn sails would not go to weather decently, but on other points she was respectable, moving very well close and broad reaching and only a bit sluggish running. Most areas assign a PHRF of 180 seconds per mile, six slower for the shoal keel.
Accommodations
The interior layout was the 9.2's strongest selling point, and the aft-cockpit A is conventional in the best sense: a V-berth that is a bit short for taller crews, a large head and hanging locker, a large dinette settee with an opposite settee, and an L-shaped galley with a chart area and quarter berth opposite. Stowage is adequate under the berths and decent in the lazarettes. The aft cockpit itself offers generous seating with well-cushioned benches and good all-around visibility. By contrast the 9.2 C moves the main cabin forward and the head aft beneath the center cockpit, runs the galley lengthwise down the port side, and gains a roomy aft cabin with an athwartship double—but loses virtually all outside storage and demands a considerable step up to the helm.
Known Issues
Engine accessibility varies dramatically between aft and center cockpit models, and in the center-cockpit boat many owners complain about one side of the engine being unreachable and the dipstick being hard to get at. Propulsively, a number of owners report the boat is underpowered with the Yanmar 12 and 15 and the Volvo 12; a Yanmar 15 pushed the boat fine in calm water but the owner said it couldn't buck a head sea. A few early 1977/1978 boats left with Atomic 4 gas engines, and a few were apparently sold with raw-water cooling rather than a heat exchanger—both worth confirming on any candidate.
Refits and Ownership
Power evolved across the build: after 1979 diesels became standard, through 1984 as 12- or 15-hp Yanmars or 12-hp Volvos, with a Yanmar 23 optional in 1985; the standard baseline remains the Yanmar 2GM 12-hp diesel. Notably, not one equipment list for used S2 9.2s examined included a spinnaker or spinnaker gear, so asymmetric or downwind kits are owner additions rather than period factory fare. The fabric liner's water resistance and mildew immunity make interior refresh largely cosmetic, and the conservative laminate and flange suggest structural refits center on deck hardware and rigging rather than hull rebuilds.
The Verdict
The S2 9.2 A is a thoughtfully detailed Edmunds cruiser-racer whose interior and deck execution outclass its tender reputation. She rewards sail management rather than brute stability, and her aft-cockpit layout preserves the stowage and sightlines the center-cockpit version sacrifices.
Pros
- Conservative hand-laid hull with internal lead ballast and a well-detailed, balsa-cored deck
- Mildew-resistant fabric hull liner that absorbs virtually no water
- Strong, conventional aft-cockpit interior with good lazarette stowage
- Well-set-up running rigging and balanced masthead-sloop sail plan
Cons
- Tender under sail; many owners reduce early and some find even the deep draft light
- Underpowered with the common 12- and 15-hp diesels in any head sea
- Narrow forward walkways and center-cockpit engine inaccessibility on the C
- Early gas-engine and raw-water-cooling examples need confirmation
