The molds later passed to Catalina Yachts, which launched the closely related Catalina 38 in 1978. That boat had interior and deck revisions and, in some cases, a taller rig.
Design and Construction
The Yankee 38 is a fin-keel monohull with a swept-back keel, skeg-mounted rudder, and tiller steering. The original documentation describes this arrangement as providing protection and steadier tracking. Her raked stem and reverse transom give her the classic S&S profile.
She measures 38.17 feet overall and 28.67 feet on the waterline, with an 11.75-foot beam. Displacement is 16,000 pounds, including 7,327 pounds of ballast. Those proportions place her firmly in the racer-cruiser tradition rather than the volume-maximized cruising mainstream.
Many sailors regard the Yankee as the better-built original compared with the later Catalina version, crediting its higher-quality fiberglass layup. The Yankee also has a more traditional feel than its derivative.
Rig and Sail Plan
The Yankee 38 carries a masthead-sloop rig. Its dimensions are:
- I: 48.50 feet
- J: 15.66 feet
- P: 42.75 feet
- E: 11.60 feet
The working jib is oversized at 115 percent LP, giving a genoa area of roughly 367 square feet, compared with 253 square feet for the mainsail.
These numbers reflect the boat’s One Ton racing lineage: there’s enough sail area to press the light-displacement hull toward its 7.18-knot hull speed without resorting to extreme beam or freeboard. The fin keel and skeg-hung rudder provide the predictable, protected steering arrangement expected of a boat intended for both racing and cruising.
Accommodations and Systems
The sources provide no details of the Yankee 38’s interior arrangement beyond its broad racer-cruiser classification and the later Catalina modifications to the cabin. This signals that the Yankee’s belowdecks layout was the more traditional of the two.
Tankage comprises 60 gallons of water and 30 gallons of diesel, supporting coastal cruising. A single 30-horsepower Vire 491 diesel drives the 16,000-pound hull at sensible cruising speeds.
Known Issues and Ownership
The main ownership caveat is rarity. With only about 30 boats built and Yankee Yachts defunct since 1975, spares and mold-specific parts have no support from a continuing production line. Any hull-specific fiberglass repair must also account for an original layup regarded as higher quality than the later Catalina’s, but no longer reproduced.
The Catalina 38 shares the Yankee’s hull molds and many of its dimensions, so some crossover in deck hardware and rigging geometry may be possible. However, Catalina’s deck and interior changes mean parts aren’t guaranteed to fit.
Because there’s no factory support network, ownership calls for a degree of self-reliance. Owners who value the original S&S character will also want to preserve the Yankee’s traditional feel rather than move toward the Catalina’s revisions.
The Verdict
The Yankee 38 is a scarce, well-built expression of early-1970s S&S racer-cruiser thinking. She combines a fin keel and tiller steering with a protected skeg-mounted rudder, a generous 115 percent genoa, and a fiberglass layup that many sailors rate above that of her Catalina descendant. She suits an owner who wants classic American design pedigree and is comfortable operating without factory support.
Pros
- Directly derived from a Sparkman & Stephens One Ton Cup racer, with classic S&S styling
- Higher-quality original layup than the later Catalina 38
- Protected skeg-mounted rudder and tiller steering
- Generous masthead-sloop sail plan with a 115 percent genoa
Cons
- Only about 30 built, with no factory support since 1975
- Mold-specific parts are no longer reproduced
- Traditional feel limits modern interior expectations
