Sydney 36CR

There were as many as 100 jockeys joking and jostling aboard the decks of 23 yachts in the mounting yard of Middle Harbour Yacht Club. The mid-week, non-spinnaker yacht race is a cosy institution staged every Wednesday of the year, attracting up to 40 boats in peak season and rarely less than 20, even in winter.

Much like the sailors, who range from sage salts to greenhorns dressed in designer gear and neophytes learning the ropes, the yachts vary in age and ability. There are venerable club racers like the Adams 10s and J24s – the sub-30-footers race on a shorter course in Division 2 – and the latest racer-cruisers such as the new Sydney 36CR, which I was there to test sail.

The tactician programmed his watch for the countdown or handicap start and, along with the skipper, studied the sailing handbook to find out where we were headed. The club committee had chosen course 10 due to the abundance of wind. At 13.2 nautical miles, it is the club’s longest mid-week course. But no one was complaining in the idyllic conditions. We checked the sails, started the decent-sized Yanmar 30hp, and cast the lines.

The fleet fluttered about before the start line like butterflies. There were just five of us aboard the Sydney 36CR, but other yachts had as many as 12 sailors. However, even in the gusty 18kt north-easterly, we were not undermanned. The design brief for the Sydney 36CR was to produce a stiff, easily-sailed yacht that could be raced with as few as three or as many as a crowd.

 The CR stands for cruiser racer. That it is, with full head room below the raised coachhouse and options of extra water, hot water, additional refrigeration and so on. The styling below decks is also reminiscent of a modern apartment and bound to win over the cruising market. Thus, on or off the race track, it’s everything that the modern day sailor demands of a just-add-water yacht these days.

LESS IS MORE
While the Sydney 36CR can dash about the cans for a quick club fix, with as few as three people – try rustling up big crews each week and you’ll now how important that is – you can also pack 10 on the rail or, with, say, seven, sail in short offshore and Category B offshore races.

Yes, you could do the Sydney to Hobart if you wanted to.

Unlike the old-generation yachts built to the IMS class rule, with big headsails and smaller mainsails, the 36CR, which was made for IRC sailing, is the exact opposite. The compact, non-overlapping headsail is easy to trim and can be sheeted almost all the way home with hands and not a hundred grinds on the winch.

That makes this yacht deadly in tacking duals and doubly crew-friendly for those social mid-week races with friends or colleagues. And, for them, the rails with rounded edges or coamings are comfortable seats when going to windward.

The latest addition to sailing luminary and developer Iain Murray’s Sydney Yachts enterprise, which is based in Nowra on the NSW south coast, the 36CR follows hot on the heels of the 47CR and 39CR. The former yacht won a Sydney to Hobart and numerous Hamilton Island Race Week regattas, while the latter has placed well in the Coffs Harbour races and other regattas.

 Though it’s early days, this race pedigree is bound to prove itself aboard the new 36CR. Such is the confidence in it that six were sold before the first Australian boat, tested hereabouts, had even hit the water. There are now 10 sold into sailing clubs from Sydney to Melbourne, with strong inquiries from Tassie and the west coast, I’m told. This is more than double the number of Sydney 38s sold at the same point. And if that’s anything to go by, well, the 65th Sydney 38 has just been launched.

Besides its bloodline and ease of handling, the solid financial backing at Sydney Yachts is a big attraction. It is by far the most successful yacht-building venture this country has seen, which is doubly impressive given the hitherto record levels of imported yachts making their way to Australia. And you don’t have to look far to find a Sydney Yacht with which to race against. In time, the 36CRs will be everywhere.

BUILT TOUGH
The hull, the same one used for the Sydney One Design 36 released in 1996, which was always ahead of its time, is well ballasted. Thanks to the lead ballast down low in the deep-draft 2.3m bulb keel (same bulb as the 39CR), this yacht doesn’t need a pile of human ballast to stay upright. And with such a high degree of stability – a ballast ratio of more than 40 per cent – and righting moment you don’t need to change sail at the drop of a hat or a few knots of extra wind. Just sail it well.

Furthermore, the fractional alloy rig (keel stepped) with asymmetrical instead of masthead spinnaker, and bowsprit, lets you race at the highest level on weekends or offshore and set the kite with a minimum of fuss. And crew. Carbon fibre is used for the bowsprit and the integral leak-proof chainplates above deck to which (upgraded) low-stretch Dyform rigging was attached. The optional carbon panels seen on deck were purely cosmetic touches that added to the racing intent.

 The hull is balsa-cored with vinylester and polyester resin and bi-axial and double bias rovings in high-load areas. There is a one-piece moulded GRP floor structural incorporating the engine bed, while the cored deck has E-glass. Non-structural bulkheads and other components are vacuum bagged and, wherever you look, the mouldings from bow to stern, deck to cabin sole, which was topped in low-maintenance Flexiteak, were superbly executed. This is a low-fuss, longlife, and lithe cruiser-racer.

Built for local conditions, the 36CR has a commodious, Aussie-sized cockpit for six with a deck mount for the optional lunch table when you’re not racing. More on the not-racing bit later. For this test the big race wheel and optional German mainsheet system with deck-mounted winches, plus the manageable headsail, gave the skipper and sheethand virtual control of the entire boat.

The 48:1 backstay is adjustable from beside the wheel, but it’s not a hydraulic number and there are therefore no servicing costs. Rather, the 36CR is based on the KISS principle. The boat has a solid vang and all the halyards (Spectra) are easy to find atop the cabin. The non-skid offers good footing, too, though the cambered decks aren’t quite so great. Lifelines are to ORC/AYF specs.

Intended for offshore racing, the test model 36CR had upgraded Harken Quattro spinnaker winches, but the spinnaker gear and pole come gratis. Instead of the German mainsheet system on the test boat, the standard Sydney 36CR comes with a block-and-tackle type mainsheet and single-barrel rather than the Quattro two-speed Harken #40 halyard/spinnaker self-tailing winches on the cabin top. The two-speed Harken 44s are the standard-issue primary winches. All good gear.

ROOM WITH A VIEW
When this boat is not racing, the interior is bound to please. The ceiling, saloon and cabin sides are all fully lined with moulded clinker panels, borrowed from the company’s recent acquisition of Marten Yachts whose boats carry $1 million-plus pricetags – and they impart a nautical but nice upmarket feel. Unsurprisingly, given Murray’s real-estate portfolio, the styling is apartment-like with a modular, moulded galley, chic upholstery, and trick lighting.

Accommodation ranges from two aft double cabins, each with lee clothes on the test boat, to a forepeak owner’s double cabin. The moulded head forward of the mast near the owner’s cab, where it acts as an ensuite, has a handheld shower (hot-water optional) and manual loo. And easy-clean moulded surfaces.

With full head room, the saloon at the widest point of the boat is wonderfully spacious and, with the signature Sydney CR windows, light and bright, too. The deck design allows for a lot more room to the sides and around the cabin entrances than the old Sydney 36.

 The opposing settees can be used as comfortable post-race seats, sea berths, or makeshift beds. As with the rest of the well-executed joinery, the dinette with folding leaf was fashioned from myrtle. The Flexiteak flooring is an easy-clean option.

Alongside the vertical, but not overly so, saloon steps there’s a navigation station to starboard with plenty of room for mounting electronics and unfurling a chart over what doubles as the lid for the big 80lt icebox with optional 12V fridge unit. Though there isn’t a nav seat, it’s fair to say this is the kind of yacht on which you switch on the instruments and head back up top.

The trendy galley to port has head room, floor space, storage space in cupboards and drawers, a top-loading garbo and, more importantly, a two-burner Origo 3000 alcohol stove. You wouldn’t have to be too resourceful to do a week aboard or take the yacht to Hamilton Island Race Week and home again.

Along with natural light, ventilation is in abundance and the fully moulded clinker wall and ceiling liners will ensure it’s an easy boat to clean. Serviceable but stylish. Fast without fuss.

RACE TIME
Back up top, with the big racing wheel in hand during pre-race manoeuvres, I noted a well-balanced helm – thanks also to the deep spade rudder – and, later, a feeling of rigidity through the water as we crossed the rough harbour sound. There is a real sense of quality as well, but above all the 36CR demonstrates an eagerness to race.

Importantly, on busy waterways like Sydney Harbour, the visibility forward is excellent thanks once again to the modern non-overlapping headsail rig. We made optimum VOG upwind doing 7.2 to 7.5kts and raced downwind at 8.5kts in 18kts of wind without the spinnaker but the headsail poled out. We also broad reached to 9.5kts on the way back to the line.

After some dog fights we crossed that line at 3.31pm, having sailed for two hours and 19 minutes, averaging 5.75kts over the course as determined by the race committee. That earned us fifth position behind much bigger yachts. And it left plenty of room for improvement at my end, too.

The Sydney 36CR is a great racer-cruiser or cruiser-racer. It’s quick on its feet, a snap to sail, and seaworthy. When not racing, it’s comfortable enough for the family to spend a week on up the river. And in 10 years this Australian-made beauty is bound to be going strong.

You’re looking at about $270,000 race-away with electronics and sails, but $310,000 as tested here as an upgraded offshore racer with extra gear for doing the Cat. 2 coastal races to places like Coffs. That’s competitively priced for a boat with such a great race pedigree and inherently high comfort factor. Just a great Australian-built yacht, however you choose to see it.

HIGHS