When I first saw pictures of the Ofcet 32 I thought to myself: another small fast cruiser racer with a basic cruising interior; nice, modern but nothing really new. I was wrong, at least in what regards the new SC version. This boat has a beautiful quality interior with a very smart layout and a very unusual natural lighting allowing for a great all around view to the outside, including forward.
Everything on the boat is well thought and nicely done. I am not usually so positive regarding the boats I review but I confess that this one surprised me very positively. I was expecting a nice boat but not such a practical good taste cruising interior.
Ofcet started some years ago building mini racers and good fast ones, since they won the Mini Transat in 2015 (1st and 2nd on the production class). This boat benefits from the savoir faire in what regards building strong and light sailing boats.
They use vacuum infusion, vinylester resins and cored hulls and decks. From the keel structure to the shrouds and chainplates supports all is impressive, well made, strong and at the same time light, allowing for a displacement of 3200kg.
The boat has a relatively high freeboard on the middle and forward sections, very well disguised by an inverted bow, a chine at the top and the shape of the hull “window”. The freeboard allows it to have a surprising 1.85m headroom on the cabin.
It has a good forward cabin (for the size) and a king size back cabin with a view. Marc Lombard, the designer, used an unusual trick to manage that: the cabin stairs are better than usual and that creates space for the small.engine. All the technical stuff is not central, behind the engine, but more to the starboard side resulting in a big cabin and a smaller storage space on the other side, with access through the head.
And talking about storage, besides that interior space, that is big, it has, on the outside, a dedicated space for a liferaft plus some more storage under the cockpit accessible by two small hatches.
The hull length is 9.80m while the LOA is 11.00 meters due to a big fixed integrated bow sprit that serves also as anchor stand. The anchor locker has a very reasonable size partially due to the rounded shape of the bow and it is easy accessible, incorporating a winch.
The cruiser racer has a lead foiled non bulbed keel (to better IRC rating), the cruising version has a torpedo cast iron keel with 1.95m draft. It has a very nice hull with 3.36m beam all of it brought back and hard chines all the way.
The cruiser racer has a lead foiled non bulbed keel (to better IRC rating), the cruising version has a torpedo cast iron keel with 1.95m draft. It has a very nice hull with 3.36m beam all of it brought back and hard chines all the way.Those hard chines increase the stiffness and the power at relatively small angles of heel contributing for an easier boat control, especially downwind, as well as the two rudder set up that ends on a tiller.
A moderately beamy hull with a big stern with hard chines plus the big 40.6% B/D gives it a great stability and allows for a big mast (15.4m air draft) and a huge sail area: 61sqm upwind and 134 sqm downwind.
The sail hardware is of good quality and it has a huge traveler near the stern at easy reach of the tiller man that has on the other side the two primary winches. Two more winches are over the cabin in reach of a solo skipper if he uses a tiller extension.
The only thing I don’t like is the lack of a small opening over the stove and in the head (maybe they can make two small ones on each side of the lateral plexiglas). The head has one but it is way back on the storage compartment and will not be practical to use.
Also, while the 3D sailing system is great for sail control I don’t think it will work well with a furled jib. For that there is nothing like a traveler and the Ofcet has not one for the front sails.
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The bow, upside down
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The standard version price is around 122 000 euro and a decently equipped boat will cost about 158 000 euro, at the factory without VAT. We all know that quality does not come cheap, that a boat with a high B/D ratio is more expensive as well as it is more expensive a light and strong boat. If we consider all this it is a reasonable price for what is offered.
Kind of boat that puts a smile on your face, if you like fast boats and comfortable nice cruising interiors. Size is not all and you may well have more fun and pleasure while cruising with this boat than with a Bavaria 37 that is what you would get for the money if you chose instead a main market mass produced boat.
The Bavaria LOA is just a bit bigger (11.30 to 11.00) it carries just a bit more sail upwind (64 to 61 sqm) but it weights more than the double (7000 to 3200kg). That will give you an idea about the difference in what regards performances. Of course the Bavaria will have a much bigger interior but the Ofcet 32SC will be big enough for a couple with two kids, offering good comfort and and that is quite surprising on a 32ft fast boat.
I had a nice visit at the Duesseldorf boat show. Fantastic is that if you sit at the (proper) nav station you can see the sails above you as well as directly forward. To enable this the forward bulkhead has small windows which can be closed to have privacy at the fore cabin. Through those windows the side windows of the forecabin are visible - unbelievable! Perfect companionway, good winch handling. Lacks of handholds had been noted already. Nice boat!
ReplyDeleteYou can add the handholds, in fact some boats have them. Look at the video min 4.00.
DeleteA pity the bad quality of the video, the boat is being sailed fast!
https://youtu.be/idFlaEf4pzw
Can be this boat sail singlehanded? All photos and videos are with crew at least 3.
ReplyDeleteYes, it can be single handed and fast if the riging is prepared for that.
DeleteDo you have seen the posts about the Transquadra? There are three racing, all with duos,"Ma Fabrique Essentielle" raced by husband and wife the two others with men's duos, "On line" and "Ad Nantes".
Not any raced solo but that's an amateur race and the ones that race solo are very few. But I would say that if it is good for a duo it is good for solo.
The boats they use solo or duo are the same and they know one or two things about what are the best boats for short crewed race. They are amateurs but they are good.
You can follow the end of the race here: http://transquadra.geovoile.com/2017/tracker/
Thank You for reply! Do You know how long is the waiting list? How long takes building? And is there principle diffwerences between Ofcet, Django, Pogo, JPK, Jeanneau SunFast 3600?
ReplyDeleteI don't even know if there is a waiting list.
DeleteIt all depends for what you want the boat. There are also some Pogo 30 racing on the Transquadra but the difference is that they would be pretty bad in what regards handicap racing (like the Django) while boats like the JPK 1080 or 10.10 can sail fast on this race duo or solo but are also very good in handicap racing (fast too).
If you don't really want to race but just to cruise fast and not do a lot of upwind sailing, the Pogo 30 can be more comfortable and easy to sail. The interior is quite basic.
If you look on the blog I believe that there is a kind of comparison between the JPK 1080 and the Sunfast 3600: the performances are very similar even if the JPK seems to be a bit better, if we take into account race results, but the JPK has a better cruising interior.
Regarding the JPK there is on the Transquadra a JPK38 that is a boat from their cruising line. It is not faster than the JPK 1080 but has a much better cruising interior and it is more adapted to cruising and easier in what regards solo sailing.
Two editions back it won the "Silver Ruder" a famous Nordic solo sail. For cruising it is by far the best of all those boats. You have a post about it on the blog
The Ofcet 32 has two versions one more cruising oriented other more racing oriented. It has a good cruising interior and I believe it will do well on handicap racing. Not so well as the JPK 1080 or JPK 1010 but I believe the interior is better and more comfortable for cruising.
The Django has also a basic interior, maybe better than the Pogo, it will sail a bit better upwind (slower downwind) but will not be suited for handicap racing. I believe you can on the blog some references regarding the differences in performance between the Django and the Azuree 33. The Django is faster but the Azuree is not slow, it yes less expensive and much more comfortable.