FIRST TEST CONTESSA 32
Buying a boat, especially a new one, is rarely a decision that can be justified as financially sensible. Ordering one built to a design half-a-century old is even more perplexing. Why part with more than ten times what you’d pay for an old Contessa just to have a new one built for you? The calculation comes down to how you value the sheer pleasure of owning the yacht of your dreams.
So what is it about the Contessa 32 that has people still yearning after them 56 years after they were first launched? A clue to the Contessa 32’s enduring appeal lies in the only other boats I can think of that are still in production after that length of time; the strikingly similar duo of the International Folkboat and the H-Boat. In fact, that little trio of designs, grafted onto the same design roots as they are, suggest some kind of appeal that can’t and won’t be replaced by any boat, ever. The long keels, protected rudders and significant ballast make them all remarkably seaworthy, while their fine bows, narrow sterns, long overhangs and organically curving sheerlines are achingly pretty. They awaken a romance that is left cold by modern angles and straight lines.
I may be biased, but some of my formative sailing experiences, like those of Julie and Mike in the preceding pages, were aboard a Contessa 32. My first encounter was as a ten-year-old. Having travelled to Holland with my Dad to meet up with a friend of his to sail back from Vlissingen to the Deben, we set off for a night crossing.
The shallow, muddy water soon hopped up and, after my evening watch, I headed below, damp and tired, and promptly fell into a deep and untroubled sleep, waking only to find us motoring over the Deben bar in the grey dawn.
I learned that Contessas are not particularly dry boats, but they are extremely comfortable. I’ve since sailed 32s in aggressive North Sea chop, in light airs and in heavy weather, notably aboard the 1979 Fastnet finisher Assent, when we went in search of the rough stuff and found 49 knots of wind over tide off the Needles.
GOING HEAD TO HEAD
When Kit Rogers, who now runs Jeremy Rogers Ltd, told me they had a new boat in the water (and one that cost north of half a million quid), I was intrigued to find out how this 56-year-old design stacks up against the production boats I normally test, and we also had the opportunity to put her toe-to-toe in this issue with an old-but-cared-for used boat. I had to be quick though, as Freya was due to set off three days later on a non-stop delivery trip to her new owner in Norway. So what do you get for your money? Built from the original moulds, the design has changed little. Even the grip moulding, whose pattern was taken from 1970s wallpaper, still has the faint line where the rolls of paper joined in the mould, and headroom is still a mere 5ft 11in maximum in the saloon.
SPECIFICATIONS
MAKE /MODEL Contessa 32
PRICE FROM £335,000 ex VAT
DESIGNER David Sadler
BUILDER Jeremy Rogers Ltd
CONTESSA 32 NEW VS OLD
MODERN UPGRADES
Subtle things have changed, however. The interior headlining has been updated with a smart gloss finish in place of the original Artex-like swirls. At the stern, the pushpit is now split with a central opening to make using the bathing ladder easier. The pushpit has also been reinforced to support the spinnaker turning blocks for better sheeting angles. A removable inner forestay on which to set a storm jib comes as standard, with the padeye aft of the anchor locker reinforced to take the load. The engine is now a 30hp Beta, which neatly squeezes into the engine box.
Electronics are clearly the latest technology, and the owner of Freya opted for two 12-inch Raymarine plotters; one at the helm and one at the chart table. Some 32s have been built with electric propulsion, but most have diesel propulsion with lithium iron phosphate house batteries doing the donkey work before the AGM house batteries are called upon, powering a modest suite of inverter (1.6-3kW) chargers and on board systems – induction or microwave cooking is now often installed. The rig has seen some updates too.
Rigging is now dyform to reduce stretch, and the backstay is fitted with a powerful Harken hydraulic tensioner. Most of the deck gear is now Harken too, with the exception of three pairs of stainless steel Andersen winches for halyards, gen
