Design and Construction
The Opium 39's hull is built in solid fiberglass, and the yard also offered her as a swivelling-keel variant for shoal-minded owners. The broad, non-tapering stern and maximum beam carried aft give her the footprint of a modern racer-cruiser, and the flat transom keeps waterline length honest when she heels. YACHT's test noted that the hull is "tamed with two blades" to prevent the flounder from levelling out on stability-relevant curves — a stabilizing device that keeps the derived open-class shape from becoming twitchy at speed. The 40-horsepower diesel places her firmly in the mid-size offshore cruiser bracket.
Rig and Handling
As a masthead sloop with a spade rudder, the Opium 39 is set up for direct steering response, and the test sailors found her easy to steer sensitively and directly on all courses. The same review recorded high speeds even on a reach, and the hull's easy planing tendency means she gets onto the step when the breeze builds. A sail load factor of 5.2 signals a moderately powered rig for her displacement, and the open-class parentage shows in how she carries that power — quick to accelerate, willing to surf, and stable through the turns thanks to the twin-blade taming arrangement rather than a heavy keel alone.
Accommodations
Below, the interior follows a conventional layout and delivers almost full cruiser comfort with only a few compromises. The beam carried aft translates into usable salon and quarter-berth volume rather than a pinched stern, and the conventional arrangement means owners get predictable circulation and stowage rather than a radical owner's-version experiment. The 4.18-metre beam gives the accommodation a roomy feel without pushing the hull into slug territory, and the near-full comfort level makes her a plausible liveaboard or long-weekend platform.
The Verdict
The Opium 39 is a performance cruiser that wears its open-class DNA openly: broad aft beam, flat stern, easy planing, and a directly steered spade rudder married to a conventionally comfortable interior. She is not a stripped racer, nor a sluggish bluewater tub, but a Lombard-derived cruiser that impresses with speed on the wind and reaches alike while keeping the cabin a sensible place to live. The swivelling-keel option broadens her cruising range, and the solid hull construction underpins the performance without gimmick.
Pros
- Wide aft beam and flat stern yield near-full cruiser comfort with a roomy, conventional interior
- Easy planing and high speeds on all courses from open-class-derived hull
- Sensitive, direct steering via spade rudder; twin-blade stabilization tames stability curves
- Offered as a swivelling keeler for shoal drafting
Cons
- Sail load factor of 5.2 suggests moderate, not explosive, rig power for the hull
- Conventional interior means few surprises but also few innovations for the buyer seeking novelty
