Design and Construction
The hull is hand-laid fiberglass built in-house by the yard, while the deck is partly balsa-cored sandwich construction hand-layed GRP, built in-house. The builder specifies resin and ISO gelcoat licensed for boat building together with chopped strand mat and roving mat, and the underwater finish carries epoxy primer, antifouling, topside paint, and an additional waterline stripe in the owner's choice of color. The lead keel weighs 2,300 kg and is through-bolted with eight stainless M20 bolts into laminated steel flooring reinforcements, a substantial attachment scheme for a 13,000-pound boat. A solid 10 mm teak deck is bonded and partly screwed over the companionway, upper deck, coaming, and cockpit.
Rig and Handling
The Sirius 32 DS is rigged as a masthead sloop with a standard mainsail and a self-tacking jib, and the sail plan is rounded out by a genoa, a furling gennaker, and a furling drifter. The rig itself includes forestay, backstay, two upper shrouds, four lower shrouds, two jib halyards, and a main halyard, with the mainboom carrying an in-boom single-line reefing system for the first and second reefs. All halyards, reefing lines, and tackles lead back to the cockpit through halyard stoppers, and a single self-tailing winch is fitted. Steering runs through a continuous V4A shaft carried in a full skeg and supported by four polyamide bushes, with the rudder hung at the half skeg and a multi-layered wooden tiller. An inner steering position carries wheel steering with a disengaging device, and a single-lever throttle is provided both there and in the cockpit.
Accommodations
Below, the deck saloon gives the boat unusual volume for its length. Huge storage spaces open up under the cabin floor huge storage spaces open up under the floor. The cockpit itself has teak floor and benches, two drains, three storage recesses, a gas compartment for two 5 kg bottles, and two large seat lockers totaling 2,000 liters. The galley holds a two-flame half-gimballed gas stove with oven, a 49-liter refrigerator with icebox, a stainless double sink, and a pressurized water system, with drawers, lower cupboards, and deep shelves sized for crates. The heads has a large washbasin, manual sea toilet, a waste-water tank of at least 70 liters with overboard discharge, and a full-width hatch. Cushions are 10 cm foam, ergonomically shaped. A 100-liter-plus V4A water tank and a 100-liter-plus V4A diesel tank both have displays, and the boat carries a 21 kW Volvo saildrive with folding propeller and double cooling.
Known Issues
Period testing flagged one operational limitation: the deck saloon obstructs the forward sightline under sail.
The Verdict
The Sirius 32 DS is a thoughtfully engineered small ocean cruiser whose deck-saloon configuration and deep floor storage distinguish it from its 32-foot peers. The through-bolted lead keel, in-house hull molding, and ocean CE rating speak to a serious build, while the self-tacking jib and cockpit-led lines make short-handed sailing manageable. The deck-saloon sightline is the one clear compromise.
Pros
- CE Category A ocean certification on a 32-foot hull
- Lead keel through-bolted with eight M20 bolts into steel-reinforced floors
- Self-tacking jib with all halyards and reefing lines led to the cockpit
- Exceptional below-floor storage accessed from the cabin
Cons
- Restricted visibility from the deck saloon when sailing
