pearson 30 sailboat review

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The Pearson 30 is a 29.79ft masthead sloop designed by William Shaw and built in fiberglass by Pearson Yachts between 1971 and 1981.

1000 units have been built..

The Pearson 30 is a moderate weight sailboat which is a reasonably good performer. It is very stable / stiff and has a good righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a coastal cruiser. The fuel capacity is originally small. There is a very short water supply range.

Pearson 30 for sale elsewhere on the web:

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• Sailboat Reviews
• Pearson 32 Boat Review

Launched in 1979, the Bill Shaw-designed Pearson 32 still shines among the club racers and coastal cruisers. Its draw is that it more than meets the needs of a cruising couple without sacrificing performance

The Pearson 32 was launched in 1979, 20 years after the first Carl Alberg-designed Pearson Triton captured market interest at the New York Boat Show and promoted sailing as a middle-income activity. In the early 1960s, the company’s principals, Clint and Everett Pearson, Alberg, and marketing strategist Tom Potter developed a reputation for functional, well built, cost-effective production sailboats that had widespread mass appeal. By the end of the first decade of production, the company had evolved into the dominant East Coast production-sailboat builder, and was bought out by aerospace giant Grumman. During these formative years, a new genre of sailboat was spawned, and each of the founders of the fledgling Pearson Co. made a sizable contribution to production-boat building. Before each went his own way, the original Pearson crew successfully turned a garage-based boatbuilding dream into a reality that spawned a dynasty.

Phase 2 of the Pearson plan came with a new owner, new designer, and new line of boats. Grumman, well capitalized from its military aircraft successes, leaped into the fray with a thick checkbook and considerable manufacturing know-how. Before they left, the Pearson cousins had recruited Bill Shaw, an 11-year veteran of the S&S design office, to be the in-house designer. He ended the Alberg era of full-keel, long-overhang sloops in favor of the fin keel, skeg, or spade rudder, and split underbody that he felt improved performance. Shaw found the Grumman era a chance to improve Pearson’s production-boat building technology, and for 27 years, he acted as the chief designer and eventually general manager of the operation.

With a clear understanding of coastal weather conditions, inshore estuaries, and the cruiser-club racer mindset of potential buyers, Shaw began a campaign of designing boats of 30-plus feet that met the needs of local sailors. Pearson became a mature manufacturing company engaged in market research that showed that although customers may read stories about passages to Tahiti, in truth, they had just enough time in the summer to get to Martha’s Vineyard and back. They belonged to yacht clubs with Wednesday night race series, and they wanted sailboats that could be raced and cruised without much fuss. The research also showed that more often than not, it was the skipper’s wife who held a pivotal vote on which boat would eventually be bought.

Shaw’s challenge became one of designing sailboats that performed well under sail in light to moderate conditions, offered accommodations that made the summer cruise more comfortable, and garnered nods of approval as the boat bobbed on a mooring in front of a club house.

The Pearson 32 embraced all of these goals, and delivered on the challenge. Its waterline footprint was wider and longer than boats of the Alberg-era. With fine forward sections and an external-ballast, lead fin keel, the 32 offered better windward performance.

For the day, it had a fairly high-aspect-ratio spade rudder that worked in conjunction with the fin keel, guaranteeing turn-on-a-dime maneuverability. Added lift from the foil shapes improved its upwind ability. With a 10-foot, 7-inch beam and fairly flat sections, the boat’s righting moment derived a big boost from form stability, and consequently, it carried sail well and showed less of a heeling tendency than earlier, lean, full-keel models.

Even with a 40-percent ballast ratio, the displacement of the boat was only 9,400 pounds, a number that when taken in context with 474 square feet of working sail area added up to decent light-air sailing ability. In short, Bill Shaw had looked closely at what New England sailors and those on Long Island Sound and the Chesapeake Bay were doing with their boats and designed the Pearson 32 to be the cruiser-racer that they were looking for.

In the years to come, other manufacturers would build competitors in this size range that were faster, but each of these iterations seemed to eat away at the cruising side of the compromise. The Pearson 32 was intentionally a 60/40 cruiser-racer, a boat that was easy to sail solo, luxurious for a couple, and quite user-friendly for a young family on a two-week summer cruise. It had some wood trim, but the extruded alloy toe rail, fiberglass coamings, and nonskid gelcoat decks were an effort to lessen maintenance through the use of more durable trim and finishes.

Another Shaw trait, seen on this design, was a sensible balance between the competing influence of accommodations and hull and deck configuration. Conceived first as a sailboat rather than a sailing houseboat, the relationship between side-deck space, cabin-house shape, and cockpit size achieved a harmony that works well underway and at anchor. Extremes were avoided, and the logic of the fin keel and spade rudder underbody proved its value. The era of canoe body hulls and independent foils did improve performance, but also made running aground a bit more of a concern. A hefty well-reinforced keel stub provided a rugged garboard seam for the lead-ballast keel of the P32, and lessened worries about running aground.

There’s been an ongoing debate about the Alberg era versus the Shaw era in the Pearson dynasty, and neither group seems to accept the validity of the others’ claims. Alberg’s boats had an aesthetic appeal, a lovely shear line, a kind motion off the wind, and their tough hulls were built as thick as a plank. Shaw brought more modern design and construction ideas to Pearson, and his boats definitely sailed faster. They were lighter, the foils added more lift, and if getting from here to there a half-knot faster is important, the Shaw design definitely trumped its predecessor.

The Pearson 32’s conventional cabin profile and narrow but adequate side decks lead to an aft cockpit protected by sizable coamings and a deep self-draining cockpit well. The sloop’s user-friendly deck layout came standard with an Edson wheel and a mainsheet traveler set at the forward end of the companionway hatch, just aft of a short bridge deck. This arrangement allows the mainsail trimmer to remain separated from the helmsman and jib trimmer when racing, but by the same token, it causes a short-handed crew to have jobs to do at either end of the cockpit. Because it’s a relatively small cockpit, this separation of mainsheet and helm isn’t as problematic as it would be aboard a larger vessel.

But there is another concern with this mainsheet arrangement that does need to be addressed: the danger of an unintentional jibe. If it occurs just as a groggy crew member makes his or her way up the companionway ladder and onto the deck, it can result in injury or even a crew-overboard incident.

Shaw always sailed and owned the boats he designed, and having been schooled by the dean of deck layout, Rod Stephens, he clearly understood the importance of optimum line leads and the efficient location of winches, tracks, and other deck hardware.

By the time the Pearson 32 was being designed and manufactured, there were enough predecessors afloat for the Pearson team to have worked out a simple and efficient sense of sail handling. Halyards were handled at the mast with the mainsail cleated in traditional fashion to the starboard side, and the jib to port. A deck-mounted winch was provided to tension the luff of the headsail, and when reliable roller furling systems stole the show, the P32 was a natural candidate for the headsail makeover.

The inboard shrouds improve the sheeting angle but cause those moving forward and aft to take an outboard route. The lifelines and the grab point provided by the shrouds themselves make it a safe enough transition for those going forward. There are handholds on the cabin house both forward and aft of the shrouds. The original gelcoat nonskid is good, and when the time comes to renew the nonskid, it can be done easily with epoxy primer and LPU top coat laden with a nonskid additive or through the use of new single-part paint products.

Accommodations

The four-step stainless tube and teak companionway ladder leads below to a cabin with 6 feet of head room, which seems large for a 32-footer. Immediately to port is the nav-station and to starboard is the galley. As an option, Pearson offered a quarter berth on the port side aft of the nav-station, which added a berth but eliminated the spacious port-side cockpit locker. Many of the 113 Pearson 32s built came with a two-burner alcohol stove, but there’s enough room in the in-line galley for a three-burner, gimballed stove with oven, plus a sink on one side and an ice box on the other. Serious cruisers can easily convert the ice box into a refrigerator. This small but utilitarian galley is usable at anchor and underway, another good test of a functional sailboat.

Forward of the partial bulkhead that separates the galley and nav-station from the rest of the main saloon are two settee berths and a table that folds up against the main bulkhead. The two settees are good sea berths and allow for comfortable meal time seating. A small forepeak V-berth and compact but functional head make up the accommodations forward of the mast. The sloop’s relatively wide beam (10 feet, 7 inches) contributes to the spacious feel in the main cabin. The bunks are a little short, and those over 6 feet, 3 inches will find themselves resisting the desire stretch out.

Shaw was careful to balance the performance needs with nice accommodations. During this era in the Pearson evolution, there was a feeling that efficiency under sail was a valuable part of cruising and that club racers were really cruising boats with newer sails and an efficient underbody.

Access to the engine is good, thanks to its location immediately under the companionway ladder. Two wooden engine bed stringers provide support for mount brackets and the original Yanmar 18 horsepower (2GM) can be easily replaced with a newer model or several other engine options. There’s room for a water heater in the bottom of the cockpit locker to port (non quarter-berth models), and a battery stowage box is located in the starboard locker. Even though the systems aboard this boat were intentionally kept simple, there is pressure water in the head and galley. With the addition of a slightly larger alternator, an owner can easily add a small evaporator-type sealed compressor refrigeration system, rounding out this boat’s credentials as a very capable summer cruiser.

Performance

The Pearson 32 is absolutely fun to sail. It’s small enough to easily singlehand, yet large enough for a couple or young family to summer cruise. With a 208-square-foot mainsail set up with a simple slab-reefing system, and a roller-furling, 120-percent genoa, the 8- to 20-knot wind range is covered. Top this two-sail inventory off with a reaching asymmetrical spinnaker for light-air fun and functional cruising, and a small working jib to replace the furling genoa during breezy spring and fall conditions, and you’re set to go sailing rather than motoring from one harbor to the next. The advantage to cruising a boat with light-air efficiency lies in the enjoyment of making good progress, even when 10 to 12 knots and shifty is the status quo.

A 5½-foot draft qualifies the P32 as a shoal water-capable cruiser that’s just right for coastal cruising and exploring the estuaries along the East Coast. But with this 32-footer, the shoal draft stats also come with an efficient foil shape and external lead ballast, providing enough lift and lateral plane to enhance sailing ability both on and off the wind. Add to the mix a respectable sail area-displacement ratio of 17, and it’s clear that this Pearson is more than an oversized pocket cruiser. Envisioned originally as both a club racer and a family cruiser, the boat lives up to both expectations. For those who prefer spending time sailing when they go cruising, it’s a boat worth a very close look, especially with current prices ranging from $18,000 to $30,000.

• Critic’s Corner: Pearson 32
• Interior Notes: Pearson 32
• Construction Details
• Pearson 32 In Context

RELATED ARTICLES MORE FROM AUTHOR

Hi Darrell, I’ve come across a 1978 Pearson 31-1. On paper its very similar to the P-32 except its 9 inches shorter. I’ve read your excellent review on the P-32 and wondered if performance wise they are similar or if the P31 has certain deficiencies (besides the funky rear of the cockpit). I notice they were in production at the same time. I haven’t been able to find a good review on the P-31 and they were not in production very long.

Thank You, Guy Lovejoy

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• Sailboat Guide

1981 Pearson 365

• Description

Seller's Description

Built in 1981 and designed by William Shaw, this well-built, and rugged Pearson is ideal for sailing anywhere. With its shoal-draft keel, it makes it possible to explore coves and inlets that are dotted with coral heads.

The boat has been upgraded with a newer autopilot and instruments, including a touch-tone nav screen, radar, radios, and antenna. It also features a hot water shower, a new toilet, and up-to-date Westerbeke maintenance, including a new impeller, thermostat, and hoses, the owner confirms.

The boat has newer solar panels and running rigging. It also features an oversized alternator, four recent AGM batteries (three house, one starter), and 120-gallon water capacity, Victron controllers, a keel-stepped rig, skeg mounted rudder, and a voluminous interior.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

Available as sloop, ketch, or cutter.

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Jeanneau Sun Light 30 Review: A Family Cruiser With Racing Influence

• David Harding
• September 24, 2024

As a light and sprightly coastal cruiser with racing potential and room for the family, the Jeanneau Sun Light 30 has much to offer

Product Overview

Jeanneau sun light 30.

When the big French production builders started launching boats like the Jeanneau Sun Light 30 in the mid-to-late 1980s, they got the British builders worried.

I was working in the sales office of Sadler Yachts at the time. Sadlers, along with other British yards such as Westerly, Moody and Hunter, had always prided themselves on producing rugged, capable cruisers that would look after the crew when the going got tough and that were built to last.

Aesthetics are important to some owners, and the Sun Light is less stark and angular than many more recent designs. Photo: David Harding

Then along came the new wave of family cruisers from across the Channel. They were typically much lighter than the British designs, with beamy, higher-volume hulls and spacious, airy interiors. Many of them sailed nicely in light airs and, importantly, they had room for a heads compartment and double cabin in their broad sterns.

This layout had first been seen on small boats in Jeanneau’s 27ft Fantasia in the early 1980s, and it caught on.

With some exceptions, British builders tended to stick to a more traditional approach in terms of both design and interior layout. For a while at least, the home-grown boats put up a good fight, often finding favour among owners with more offshore experience. When eventually most of their builders disappeared, it wasn’t just because the designs had become dated.

The conventional interior layout with its teak trim incorporates good handholds and stowage. Photo: David Harding

Whatever the reasons for the decline of the sailing-yacht industry in the UK, there’s no doubt that the French designs found wide appeal. Newcomers in particular often saw no point in buying a relatively narrow, heavy boat with a deeper, darker and smaller interior if they could have a boat that was lighter, brighter, cheaper and roomier – especially if it also sailed well in the sort of conditions they would want to go out in.

Jeanneau Sun Light 30: State of the eighties

One such design to emerge was Jeanneau’s Sun Light 30. She was designed in 1986 by Daniel Andrieu, a designer with an impressive record of race-winners under the IOR (International Offshore Rule). Many builders adapted successful IOR level-rating designs (quarter-tonners, half-tonners etc) by giving them smaller rigs and shallower keels and selling them as production cruisers with a winning pedigree.

Some of these were very successful for builders such as Beneteau and Jeanneau but, while the Sun Light was from a designer with a proven track record in the IOR, she wasn’t simply a de-tuned half-tonner.

New winches and running rigging can make a big difference to the ease of handling on an older boat. Photo: David Harding

Her racing influence was evident in her weight of just 6,800lb (3,100kg). Her rig was also of typical IOR proportions, with a large fore-triangle, overlapping headsails and a relatively small, high aspect-ratio mainsail. On the other hand, she had a more sensible keel than many IOR designs: essentially a parallelogram with a radius to the trailing edge and a slight swelling at the tip.

A further cruising ‘concession’ was a partial skeg in front of the rudder. With her generous beam and a broad stern by the standards of the day, the Sun Light was a prime example of the new generation of light, roomy and nippy cruiser/racers. Not surprisingly, she proved popular.

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Looking to an upgrade

And, nearly 30 years later, she appealed to Paul Dale when he was looking for a 30-footer as a move up from his 24ft Fox Hound. At the time, Paul’s other boat was a Dufour 41 that he had sailed across to the Caribbean and kept (and raced) in Grenada. He and his wife wanted a small boat to keep on their mooring in Chichester for local sailing. The limitations of the Fox Hound’s size, however, meant that they started looking for something bigger after a couple of years, and 30ft (9m) seemed about the right length.

Paul had experience in boats both bigger and smaller, including his first boat (a Halcyon 27), a Contest 33, a Sigma 362 that he had raced extensively in RORC and JOG events, the Dufour, which he bought after the Sigma as a bigger and more comfortable boat for the ARC, and the Fox Hound.

A lifelong cruising and racing sailor, Paul Dale has owned boats from a Foxhound 24 to a Dufour 41. Photo: David Harding

‘We wanted our replacement for the Fox Hound to be capable of going across to Brittany or Normandy and living on for a week or two,’ said Paul, ‘so we bought this as a temporary measure. Then we sold the Dufour and thought we would put the money into something a bit more fancy.’

That was the initial plan, but what to buy? The reasoning behind the purchase and subsequent refurbishment of the Jeanneau Sun Light 30– and then the decision to keep it instead of buying a new boat – will be covered in an article by Paul in an upcoming issue as it is a good lesson in why an old boat can be as good as a new one. Suffice it to say that he saw nothing new of similar size that appealed, in terms of aesthetics (an important consideration) or functionality.

A friend bought a new 30-footer that, in races, Paul’s Jeanneau Sun Light 30 sailed straight past. Signs that the joinery on his friend’s new boat might not be set to last particularly well were a further consideration, so he decided to stick with what he had.

Boarding gates are a useful addition, rarely seen on boats of this size and age. Photo: David Harding

Old and good

Having now sailed Alexia for 10 years, Paul is more than happy with his decision not to change. But what is it about this design, now approaching 40 years old, that makes it so practical and versatile? I joined him on what eventually turned into a bright and breezy day to find out.

The mainsheet runs across a track on the aft end of the bridgedeck. Photo: David Harding

Alexia had been brought in from the mooring and was waiting alongside the Itchenor pontoon when I arrived, so there was no need to use the sugar-scoop to climb aboard over the stern. New boats typically have hinge-down transom platforms instead of sugar-scoops, to minimise ‘wasted’ hull length, but they only allow easier stern-boarding – whether from a dinghy or from the water – if lowered in advance. A sugar-scoop is there all the time. For convenience and safety, that has to be a significant plus.

For climbing aboard via the topsides, Paul fitted boarding gates between the stanchions. When the Jeanneau Sun Light 30 was new, she was sometimes criticised for having a deck that flexed in way of the stanchion feet – partly a result of her light weight – but the new feet for the gates felt pretty firm.

Wide, well-angled coamings make a very comfortable perch for the helmsman. Photo: David Harding

Punching the tide down the harbour was made easy by the new 20hp Yanmar 3YM, which gave us a comfortable 5 knots over the ground and 6 knots or more through the water. As we went, Paul explained that the boat was in heavy-displacement mode, carrying 200 litres of water and 90 litres of fuel ready for an imminent cruise to France. He fitted extra tanks, roughly doubling the standard capacity, for spending longer aboard. He accepts that the substantial increase in displacement inevitably slows down a boat that’s so light by design.

Performance features

Helping Alexia’s performance were features that you don’t always find on boats of this size and age, such as the Featherstream prop (‘a great buy’) and new (double-taffeta) laminate sails by North. Many 40-year-old boats have hardware well past its prime that makes for inefficient sail-handling, whereas Paul fitted new Lewmar self-tailing winches and Dyneema running rigging.

Generous beam creates plenty of space around the galley and chart table. Photo: David Harding

When we set sail off West Pole and I hopped into the RIB to take the photos, a south-westerly of 16-18 knots prompted Paul to start with one slab in the main. The wind soon decreased, and had dropped so much by the time I got back aboard that we had to shake out the reef. As we did so, I suggested that it might provoke the wind into returning.

About two minutes later, we saw a band of fresh-looking breeze filling in from about 30° to the left of its original direction. When it reached us, we found it was a mean of 20 knots gusting to over 23, and we were set up for 12-15 knots in terms of halyard tension, outhaul and all the other settings, quite apart from simply carrying too much sail.

Since time was against us and it would have taken more than a few minutes to adjust everything, I had a good opportunity to see how the boat behaved when well over-pressed. She handled surprisingly well, letting me feather her into the fresher patches while maintaining enough drive to power through the steep sea. The helm remained nicely balanced and our speed over the ground, with some adverse current, hovered in the mid-to-high 4s. Had we reconfigured everything I’m sure we could have achieved 5 knots even given the sea state and our draught of just 4ft 9in (1.45m). Over 5 knots would seem likely in flat water, especially with the optional deeper fin.

Caps, intermediates, forward lowers and aft lowers are all taken to separate chainplates in the middle of the side decks. Photo: David Harding

Significantly, the boat didn’t feel remotely skittish or on the edge. She had an easy motion and felt far more comfortable than might have been expected, given what we were asking of her. Downwind, she picked up her skirts and surfed readily as we gybed the angles back towards the harbour, frequently clocking over 8 knots. This is undoubtedly a quick, rewarding and responsive boat to sail that, as Paul observes, also sails more upright than many older designs.

A comfortable perch

For die-hard dinghy sailors – even those of us who have covered a few miles offshore – there’s still nowhere better to helm from than a comfortably angled cockpit coaming, with a tiller extension in one hand and the mainsheet within easy reach. That’s what you get with the Sun Light, and it adds to the pleasure of sailing her.

If you ask her to bear away without easing the mainsheet – you shouldn’t, but sometimes you have to – she responds dutifully, the rudder maintaining good grip.

The primary feature of designs from this era that can make them harder to sail is the size of the headsail, in this case combined with forward lowers to add to the fun of tacking. Those new Lewmar self-tailers definitely earn their keep.

A nav station with a well-sized chart table and space for instruments. Photo: David Harding

Then, when the breeze kicks in, you have to suffer the compromise of a rolled headsail whereas, with a newer design, you would de-power the mainsail and perhaps twist out the headsail slightly – all much easier to do. That’s one of the few compromises often seen in boats influenced by the IOR.

Although Alexia took the moderately brisk conditions of the day in her stride, Paul knows where the limits lie – for the boat and for him. ‘She’s far too light to be a serious offshore boat, because you get thrown about so much in a seaway. But with better forecasts, it’s not as though you have to endure ghastly weather these days.

For a Channel crossing going to windward, I would set out in a Force 3, maximum 4. If it’s a reach I will go up to Force 5, and if it’s a run or on the quarter I’ll go in a 6.’ When you’ve got wherever you’re going, the Sun Light offers good comfort and plenty of space below decks. Some of the woodwork has been replaced and much of it refurbished following Paul’s purchase.

Leech reefing pennants and the outhaul are handled by a winch on the mastLeech reefing pennants and the outhaul are handled by a winch on the mast. Photo: David Harding

The layout is conventional for the time, with the galley to port forward of the aft cabin, and the heads abaft the chart table to starboard. That’s unless you have the alternative layout with a linear galley to port opposite a dinette. The chart table– rarely seen on modern boats of this size – is another feature that Paul values, for use as a desk or just somewhere to sit and relax with a book. He considers the slightly smaller heads to be a worthwhile trade-off.

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Alexia is an example of how a 40-year-old boat can still be a fast, roomy, versatile and easy-to-handle cruiser if you choose the right design and, as Paul puts it, ‘if you’re prepared to spend the money and not put up with horrible old kit’. He acknowledges that he has spent more than he would ever see back if he were to sell – which he has no intention of doing – but he has got the boat he wants, for much less than the price of a new one. As ever with a boat, the important thing is to choose it according to the sort of sailing you have in mind. This owner knows what he likes and he knows what the boat likes. They get on together very well indeed.