The Alajuela 38 is an American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

that was designed by William Atkin as a cruiser and first built in 1977.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 318-319. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The Alajuela 38 is a development of an earlier Atkin design, the Ingrid 38 and the ''Goucho''. Versions of the design were also built by many other builders using an assortment of materials for hull construction, including wood and ferro-cement.

Production

The design was built by the Alajuela Yacht Corp in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The company completed about 72 examples of the design between 1977 and 1985, including some boats delivered as bare hulls and kits for owner-completion. Some boats were completed to this design built from wood or using a

ferrocement Ferrocement or ferro-cement is a system of construction using reinforced mortar or plaster (lime or cement, sand, and water) applied over an "armature" of metal mesh, woven, expanded metal, or metal-fibers, and closely spaced thin steel rods ...

hull. The number reported as completed varies, depending on whether boats sold as bare hulls or kits are counted. The number is thought to be between 70 and 80. The boat was the company's first design produced and it took founder Mike Riding almost four years to build the hull molds for the start of production.

Design

The Alajuela 38 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, with wood trim. It has a

cutter rig A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...

, a spooned

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

with a

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...

, a canoe transom, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

, or an optional wheel and a fixed long

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. It displaces and carries of lead ballast. The Mark II version has a taller rig of about , designed by Raymond Richards and has a shorter aluminum bowsprit. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. The Mark II has a draft of . The boat is fitted with an

inboard An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an ''inboard motor'' is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a pr ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

of for docking and maneuvering. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . Sleeping accommodations are provided for five people. These include a "V"-berth in the bow cabin, plus two settee berths and a pilot berth in the main cabin. The Galley (kitchen), galley is "U"-shaped and located on the starboard side at the foot of the companionway steps. In includes a top-loading icebox and a two-burner propane-fueled stove. There is a navigation station aft. A wet locker is mounted between the aft engine room and the galley. The cabin has a

and holly sole and is finished in teak wood, with a planked ceiling. The Head (watercraft), head is located just aft of the bow cabin, on the starboard side. The stern lazarette provides vented storage for propane tanks. Ventilation is provided by four teak ventilators, plus an optional teak skylight. For sailing there are three two-speed winches for the halyards and five two-speed winches for the Sheet (sailing), sheets. Tracks are provided for the genoa (sail), genoa and the staysail sheets. The mainsheet has a mechanical advantage of 6:1 and employs with a mainsheet traveler. The outhaul is an internally mounted design, with a 2:1 advantage. The side decks are wide and have a non-skid surface of ground walnut shells. The cockpit coamings are of teak. The boat can be equipped with a spinnaker. The design has a hull speed of .

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "this is a passage or cruising boat, not a racer. Long keel gives directional stability, but Alajuela will not turn on a dime. Double-enders offer less area to pooping seas and are intended for cruising. Alajuela has a fast-draining, relatively small cockpit for insurance."

References

{{Reflist Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by William Atkin Sailboat types built by Alajuela Yacht Corp

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References