Peterson 34

[sledracr]

In those days, either a Chance 3/4-tonner (Eclipse) or an Ericson 3/4-tonner (Seduction)

Random aside... which boat was it that John Knute was on? Kinda of a maroon-colored Peterson (37?) out of Santa Barbara.

 

[House Salad]

Didn't you need to totally overhaul your shroud plates, tho? Thought that was on your list of repairs to Greyhawk. And one PNW Peterson 34 (or was it a 37?) I saw for sale had lost its mast -- second time, someone said -- when the port side chainplate pulled right out thru the deck. Photos showed the damage where it exited along with text to the effect, "an easy repair for the capable do-it-yourselfer." :lol: (Memory is going; may be that exhaust leak in the car.)

I did replace my chain plates, but not due to a problem in the way in which they attach to the boat -- that is pretty robust, at least on my boat (and the other Island Yacht one's that I've seen).

Hey Greyhawk,
Hope everything is well and the winches are still working for you. Didn't see in the 1-2 this year (Sparky did Marion-Bermuda again).

There was a Peterson 35 in southern New England, built by Metalmast Marine, named Not By Bread Alone, that was competitive for many years.

Cheers,

Rob

Bread is a Ganbare 35. She had a Brit Chance keel that made her go like a scalded dog. There are pictures of her in another thread.

 

[House Salad]

I know a lot about these boats. My father owned Island Yachts/Composite Technologies here in the Galveston/Seabrook, Tx area. I was fairly young while the 34s were in production but I still know quite a bit about them. I currently have a Peterson 38 that is basically a 4' longer 34. It is for sale if anyone is interested and yes I have bought an ad and its currently listed here on SA!!

PM me any questions you have. They are great boats! I was in Chicago this past weekend and counted 3-4 right there in the mooring field in front of CYC. Good to see these old boats still around!!

Hayes, maybe you can clarify the pedigree of the Peterson '3_' lineup. As I've understood it, Doug designed Ganbare as a 3/4 tonner, but it measured in at the IOR cup in Italy as a 1-tonner. Ganbare nearly won the class anyway. Then it went into production via various builders as the Peterson 34; but also 'stretched' versions up to the 37? Is that right, the P35 & 37 were basically the 34 with extended transoms? And you say your 38 is also of the same design?
Then Contessa made the 35 and 34 OOD; how related are they to the P34, & hence Ganbare? I'm uncertain which of these models are separate designs, and which are tweaks to the P34. Thanks for any info you have!

All the info I can find in print (and there's a lot of it) says that Ganbare was designed as a one tonner, as noted. Ron Holland, who had done Transpac to Tahiti with Peterson on the 33' flush decker Spirit, was working along the same lines but since he didn't have Peterson's grandmother he ended up with a quarter tonner the same year.

The Contessa 35 by Jeremy Rogers Yachts was an enlarged Ganbare type; not just stretched but bigger all-round. The 34 OOD was a later wider-sterned one design, not to any rating rule.

All this is just from my collection of old mags with design studies, interviews and other stories, I was in short pants when Ganbare came out.

Gumboots is the original Contessa 35. There are stories about her in other threads too.

 

[lom]

In those days, either a Chance 3/4-tonner (Eclipse) or an Ericson 3/4-tonner (Seduction)

Random aside... which boat was it that John Knute was on? Kinda of a maroon-colored Peterson (37?) out of Santa Barbara.

Hey Sledracr,

Realizing this is a massively old thread, but I think I may be typing this aboard the very boat you are thinking of. Was it a Peterson 37 named 'Sunjammer' which was maroon with a sort of very 80s strip deal paint job?

If so this is really interesting as John Knute is another name in the boat's history we haven't heard of yet.

 

[lom]

Ah -- maybe that was it. Didn't you need to totally overhaul your shroud plates, tho? Thought that was on your list of repairs to Greyhawk. And one PNW Peterson 34 (or was it a 37?) I saw for sale had lost its mast -- second time, someone said -- when the port side chainplate pulled right out thru the deck. Photos showed the damage where it exited along with text to the effect, "an easy repair for the capable do-it-yourselfer." :lol: (Memory is going; may be that exhaust leak in the car.)

Sorry for the old thread reboot, do you remember if this was a blue one out of Portland? It's likely we own this boat now! Slowly hunting down old photos if possible

We glassed in a new bulk head, the carpentry wasn't too difficult as it's quite accessible, and went totally overkill on both sides. 6+ layers of glass tabbed hull all the way up to the settee cushions. We then glassed unidirectional carbon fiber cloth from the hull to the deck 5 layers thick where the chain plates bolt through. Pretty sure they're stuck now for a least a little while longer. Can take a photo when the sun comes up

 

[silent bob]

That’s way more than plenty!

 

[ROADKILL666]

Sailed on one a few times. Well behaved for a IOR boat. The one I raced on went through hurricane Andrew and survived. Very well built! The one I sailed on I think was a former blue yankee

 

[slug zitski]

In its day the 34 was a fast racer cruiser

Good design

 

[sledracr]

Hey Sledracr,

Realizing this is a massively old thread, but I think I may be typing this aboard the very boat you are thinking of. Was it a Peterson 37 named 'Sunjammer' which was maroon with a sort of very 80s strip deal paint job?

If so this is really interesting as John Knute is another name in the boat's history we haven't heard of yet.

probably. but that was a lot of brain-cells ago.

Edited to add: according to my ancient charcoal-on-papyrus log, Sunjammer's sail number was 57868. Any old rags on your boat with that number?

If no... what sail number do you have?

 

[lom]

probably. but that was a lot of brain-cells ago.

Edited to add: according to my ancient charcoal-on-papyrus log, Sunjammer's sail number was 57868. Any old rags on your boat with that number?

If no... what sail number do you have?

We do indeed have two spinnakers and a massive mylar hank on genoa with that number. We have been dancing around information on the boat in its past life for a while but have yet to dig up a picture or anything haha.

 

[ronnie_simpson]

I had #78 for 5 years, built in Texas. Great boats. Put over 14,000 miles on it, mostly solo, between Hawaii and Fiji and back, with many stops in between. Had to sail it back from Fiji to Hawaii during COVID, and it was the hardest passage i've ever done on any boat because it was 29 days hard on the wind, but the Peterson took it in stride and didn't break anything at all. A lot of boats would have really struggled on that trip and wouldn't have performed or pointed as well, either.

Hit the reef on an overcast day one time in Fiji, all powered up going upwind. Thought I broke the boat. Dove it that evening and all it did was take a chunk of lead out of the bottom of the leading edge of the keel. Hardest grounding i've had on any boat, ever, and there was zero structural damage. My boat was originally a Santa Cruz boat and sailed to Hawaii via French Polynesia, so she has done some pretty serious bluewater miles in the Pacific.

If you add a stubby little cruising bow sprit that extends just past the anchor, then J105 kites fit perfect. I put new chainplates in the boat, and also new tangs in the mast to go Bluewater, but original ones would have been fine. I also added a new rudder as my stock rudder showed pitting on the shaft. Foss Foam will build you a custom rudder and they can use a newer design Express 37 blade.

Boat sails very well, great boat on all points of sail, though they have some typical IOR type limitations. Fantastic upwind and close reaching. I never pushed it super hard with a kite up when going deep, we just put the bow up 10 degrees and I never saw her death roll too bad. I also wasn't running a pole and symmetricals. Stock rudder is plenty big as well, so she has plenty of control. Fair amount of stability as the keel is 50% ballast ratio if i recall correctly.