Her defining feature is a lifting centerboard, which changes the draft from 1.20 to 3.30 meters. That range allows the Hood 38 to enter shallow coves while retaining the draft for offshore work.
Design and Construction
The Hood 38 appeared in two versions, Mk I and Mk II. The hull never changed—the carène remained the same—and only the interior accommodations differed. Buyers choosing between the two versions are therefore choosing between interior arrangements rather than different hull designs.
The solid-fiberglass hull carries roughly 11,000 pounds of lead ballast on a displacement of 23,000 pounds. That 47 percent ballast ratio supports the builder’s description of the boat as robust. As the only ballasted centerboarder the chantier ever built, she occupies a distinct niche: a 38-foot monohull whose draft reduces from over ten feet to under five when the board is raised.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
From the wheel, the helmsman looks over 11.60 meters of deck. The builder credits the boat with great pleasure at the helm, drawing on Hood’s vast design experience.
The Hood 38 sails upwind at less than 30 degrees to the apparent wind. Downwind, lifting the centerboard allows her to post what the builder calls amazing averages. These reported figures support the article’s straightforward assessment that she is fast.
Her 882-square-foot sail plan and 30-foot waterline produce a sail-area-to-displacement ratio near 17. Together with the 47 percent ballast ratio, those numbers help explain the stiffness a cruising sailor feels as the breeze builds.
Accommodations and Cruising Capacity
The builder describes the Hood 38’s interior as possibly the most generous of any vessel in this class. Extensive teak gives the accommodations a refined, luxurious finish.
The lifting centerboard is central to the builder’s idea of happy cruising from cove to cove. Tankage consists of 106 gallons of water and 37 gallons of diesel, framing the sort of extended coastal cruising and passage-making the layout supports.
Refit Experience and Known Issues
The single documented anomaly comes from the refit of one Hood 38, Sojourner. Its Garmin autopilot initially blew a fuse when overpowered, mostly while sailing off the wind in big seas. Following the manual, the owner increased the amperage of the in-line fuse at the drive unit, after which the problem ceased.
The autopilot installation was deliberately simple: it steered by heading only, with no networked wind instruments. After the fuse correction, it covered about 8,000 miles offshore, plus additional inshore miles, without further fault.
Sojourner was intended to serve as the owner’s parents’ retirement home and later completed several ocean passages to and from the Caribbean. During the refit, its thru-hulls were thoroughly inspected but not replaced. This example suggests that the platform can accept modest, well-executed systems. For an owner, the lesson is that careful inspection of thru-hulls can be preferable to blanket replacement, though the experience of one boat does not establish a rule for every Hood 38.
The Verdict
The Wauquiez Hood 38 is a distinctive Ted Hood cruiser: a genuinely fast centerboarder with useful shallow-draft capability and a voluminous, teak-rich interior that the builder ranks among the roomiest of its kind. The Mk I and Mk II offer different accommodations on the same hull, so buyers are choosing an interior generation rather than a fundamentally different boat.
The experience of Sojourner also suggests that the Hood 38 rewards simple, robust outfitting rather than a dense collection of gadgets.
Pros
- The only ballasted centerboarder ever built by the Wauquiez yard
- Draft ranges from 1.20 to 3.30 meters
- Hull remained unchanged across the Mk I and Mk II
- 179 examples built between 1978 and 1989
- Sails upwind at less than 30 degrees apparent and posts strong downwind averages with the board raised
- Interior described as perhaps the largest of any boat of this type
- Extensive teak creates a refined finish
Cons
- An autopilot overpower fuse issue was documented on at least one heavily used example
- One refit involved thru-hull inspection rather than replacement, making buyer diligence important
