With balanced fore and aft overhangs, typical S&S tumblehome and a low coachroof, the She 36 has a sleek profile. Beneath the water, a fin keel and skeg-hung rudder give her the sweet lines associated with the design.
Design and Construction
The hull is 35ft 6in overall, with a 26ft waterline, 10ft 5in beam and 6ft draught. Displacement is around 5½ tons, substantial without making the boat feel sluggish. The fin-and-skeg configuration provides the directional stability associated with a skeg-hung rudder.
The She 36 is fundamentally sound, and owners confirm the hull’s integrity at the material level: the gelcoat on the topsides is original and very thick. The exterior is all GRP, while below decks the boat has the hallmarks and charm of a classic timber yacht rather than a modern molded liner.
Rig, Performance and Handling
As a Three-Quarter Ton derivative, the She 36 is a safe and fast offshore cruising boat. Owners describe the sailing as faultless and vice free apart from a tendency to roll on a windy spinnaker run.
That rolling can be managed by replacing the spinnaker with twin headsails: a boomed-out genoa to windward and another headsail set flying. Otherwise, the boat inspires the sort of go-anywhere confidence that allows an owner to sail single-handed, short-handed or comfortably with three or four friends. Her sweet underwater lines and balanced overhangs do more than please the eye; they underpin a boat entirely at home in difficult waters and adverse weather.
Accommodation
Getting below requires the usual limbo dance over a high bridgedeck, followed by the steep companionway descent typical of boats from this era. The payoff is a practical offshore interior.
The galley and chart table areas are extensive and designed to be used at sea. The amidships heads compartment, offset to port, is surprisingly voluminous for a yacht of this vintage. A snug pilot berth to starboard complements the forecabin V-berths, which also work well. Overall, the racer-cruiser layout favors function under way over saloon volume.
Known Issues
The only documented behavioral shortcoming is the tendency to roll downwind on a windy spinnaker run. Twin headsails control rather than cure it.
The thick original gelcoat and sound hull point to a build that has aged without the osmosis scares common to thinner 1970s laminates.
Refits and Ownership
Owners have shown that the platform readily accepts modern cruising equipment. On one well-followed example, wheel steering was converted to tiller steering to free up cockpit and stern-locker space, make windvane use easier and reduce weight in the stern.
The original slab-reefing boom was replaced by twin-line reefing. The DECCA Navigator gave way first to a Garmin GPS and later to a chart plotter with AIS, while the cool box was replaced by a keel-cooled fridge. A bottom strip and re-coat completed in 1998 has held well.
Repowering with a 3-cylinder 30hp Beta and a 17in folding two-blade prop delivered very good performance. A stowable bowsprit with an additional furler carries a furling flat reacher.
Other upgrades include:
- An electric anchor winch, a 35lb CQR and 40 fathoms of chain
- A deck anchor locker
- Ebersbacher hot-air heating with a diesel wing tank that can also feed the engine
- A 30L calorifier with 240v immersion
- Radar
- A spray hood, dodgers and cockpit tent
- A Monitor windvane and Simrad tiller pilot
- Battery capacity of 1 x 60ah and 2 x 110ah deep-cycle batteries
- Shore power
- Two additional bilge pumps
Together, these changes expanded the boat’s cruising capability and self-sufficiency, with the added bilge pumps rounding out that self-sufficiency.
The Verdict
The She 36 is a fundamentally sound Sparkman & Stephens racer-cruiser. Her fin-and-skeg lines, thick original gelcoat and timber charm below decks make her a compelling offshore candidate at modest outlay. She is fast and safe, readily sailed single- or short-handed, and her only real vice—rolling downwind—is a known and manageable trait rather than a flaw.
Pros
- Sweet fin-and-skeg lines, balanced overhangs and S&S tumblehome
- Thick original topside gelcoat and a fundamentally sound GRP hull
- Extensive, sea-oriented galley and chart table
- Voluminous offset heads compartment
- Faultless, vice-free handling apart from the documented downwind rolling tendency
- Go-anywhere confidence
- Readily upgraded to modern cruising and self-steering standards
Cons
- Rolls on a windy spinnaker run
- High bridgedeck and steep companionway make access below less easy
- Originally racer-spartan: needs owner refit for fridge, heating, and tankage
