Design and Construction
At her core the Yankee 38 is a fin-keel, swept-back monohull carrying a skeg-mounted rudder and tiller steering, a combination that the original documentation cites for protection and steadier tracking anchor. The raked stem and reverse transom give her the classic S&S visual signature, and her proportions — 38.17 feet overall, 28.67 feet on the waterline, 11.75-foot beam, 16,000 pounds displacement, and 7,327 pounds of ballast — 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 against the later Catalina iteration, crediting a higher-quality fiberglass layup, and she carries a more traditional feel than that derivative anchor.
Rig and Sail Plan
The boat is rigged as a masthead sloop with an I of 48.50 feet and J of 15.66 feet, while the mainsail hoists on a P of 42.75 feet with an E of 11.60 feet. The working jib is oversized at 115 percent LP, yielding a genoa of roughly 367 square feet against a 253-square-foot main. Those numbers describe a sail plan tuned for the One Ton lineage: enough area to press the light-displacement hull up toward her 7.18-knot hull speed without resorting to extreme beam or freeboard. The skeg-hung rudder and fin keel give the steering a predictable, protected feel that suits a boat expected to both race and cruise.
Accommodations
The sources provide no interior arrangement detail beyond the broad racer-cruiser classification and the later Catalina modifications that tweaked the cabin — a signal that the Yankee's own belowdecks layout was the more traditional of the two. A 60-gallon water capacity and 30-gallon diesel tank support coastal cruising, and the single 30-horsepower Vire 491 diesel drives a modest 16,000-pound hull at sensible cruising speeds.
Known Issues
The principal ownership caveat is her rarity: with only about 30 built and the builder defunct since 1975, spares and mold-specific parts are not supported by a continuing production line, and any hull-specific fiberglass repair draws on a layup regarded as higher quality than the later Catalina but no longer reproduced.
Refits and Ownership
Because Yankee Yachts ceased operations, the 38 exists outside any factory support network. The Catalina 38 shares the same hull molds and many dimensions, so some crossover in deck hardware and rigging geometry is possible, though Catalina's interior and deck changes mean parts are not a guaranteed fit. Owners valuing the original S&S character will want to preserve the traditional feel rather than drift toward the Catalina's revisions.
The Verdict
The Yankee 38 is a scarce, well-built expression of early-1970s S&S racer-cruiser thinking — a fin-keel tiller boat with a protected skeg rudder, a generous 115-percent genoa rig, and a layup many sailors rate above her Catalina descendant. She rewards an owner who wants classic American design pedigree and is comfortable outside a factory support system.
Pros
- Direct Sparkman & Stephens One Ton Cup derivation with classic S&S styling
- Higher-quality original layup than the later Catalina 38
- Protected skeg-hung rudder with tiller steering
- Generous masthead-sloop sail plan with 115% genoa
Cons
- Only about 30 built; no factory support since 1975
- Mold-specific parts not reproduced
- Traditional feel limits modern interior expectations
