Description

The Alajuela 38 is a derivative of William Atkin‘s Ingrid 38 Ketch that was designed in 1934, itself following a lineage of traditional double-enders started a century earlier with the lifeboat designs of Colin Archer. Though the hulls of the Alajuela and the Ingrid look nearly identical at first glance, particularly above the waterline, designer Mike Riding provided subtle improvements to the underbody of the Alajuela. She has a finer entry that helps in light airs and a flatter run aft which improves all round performance. In an effort to overcome the Ingrid’s tendency to bury her bow, more buoyancy was added forward above the waterline. The rig carries 8% more canvas, bringing her close to the sail area to displacement ratios seen in more modern performance cruisers like the Valiant 40, this and the increased efficiency of one mast over two gives the Alajuela 38 a significant performance advantage over the Ingrid. Many consider the Alajuela 38 a refined version of the similarly shaped and better-known Westsail 32, but as well known sailing author John Kretschmer puts it, “Sure it’s a double ender but it is a different animal. It’s lean and graceful, not stout and pugnacious. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Westsail 32, truly, but the Alajuela will sail circles around it.” 

The Alajuela Yacht Corp completed approximately 80 examples of the design between 1974 and 1985, including some boats that were delivered as bare hulls and kits for owner-completion. The boat is built predominantly of fiberglass with wood trim. It has a cutter rig, a spooned raked stern with a teak bowsprit, a canoe transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller, and a fixed long keel. The build quality and high standards of engineering made a name for Alajuela. The hull is molded in one-piece from hand-laid fiberglass varying in thickness from 3/4 inch near the bilges to 1/2 inch at the topsides. Inside the hull, there are no liners, it’s all wood bonded to the hull which is durable while providing accessibility to every nook and cranny. The deck uses plywood coring and the hull-to-deck joint remains one of the best in the industry. Of particular note are the beautiful bronze fittings which were cast by the Alajuela Yacht Corp themselves.

This vessel underwent a complete refit in 2002 including the new engine and generator, all new wiring and panels, removal of the teak deck overlay and re-glassing the entire deck and cabin structure, installing cockpit seat hatches with lockers, and installation of a hard dodger. The rig was refurbished including painting the mast and boom and replacing all standing and running rigging. A second refit took place in 2022 that included updated electronic, a new galley, an eco-friendly solar power system, the running and standing rigging were replaced, and the hull and deck were painted (including new non-skid). The dead Westerbeke 35 genset was removed (a process that required removing and reinstalling the main Westerbeke 35C power plant. In 2023, a mini-refit included the fiberglassing of the water tanks, replacing most of the remaining seacocks, the windlass was replaced, a day tank was installed, additional electronics were installed (including an AIS system and Starlink), the two 100 watt semi-flexible solar panels were replaced with ridged 175 watt panels (for a total of 650 watts), and a bow thruster was installed that including 200 Ah of lithium batteries were located under the V-berth. In 2024, another mini-refit too place where more electronics were installed (Iridium Go Exec and Datahub and the Starlink was converted to 12V and the router was replaced), a new new house battery bank comprised of 400 Ah of Battleborn lithium batteries (600 Ah including the 200 Ah under the V-berth), two Optima D27M coiled AGM batteries were moved to the “starter bank”, a Katadyn 40E watermaker was installed, and the boat was repowered with a Beta 38 engine.

Specifications

  • LOA 48′ 0″ (including the bowsprit and the self-steering wind vane)
  • LOD 38′ 0″
  • LWL 32′ 7”
  • Beam: 11′ 6”
  • Max Draft: 5′ 7”
  • Displacement: 27,000 lb
  • Ballast 8,600 lb
  • Sail Area 880 sq ft
  • Bridge Clearance 54′
  • Headroom 6′ 4″
  • Hull Material: Fiberglass
  • Fuel Tank: 1 x 75 gal
  • Fresh Water: 35 + 45 = 80 gal
  • Holding: 1 x 27 gal
  • Cabins: 1
  • Heads: 1
  • Theoretical Hull Speed 7.65 kn

Accommodations

  • Berths for five with pilot berth in salon to port and “V” forward. Full galley: 3 burner propane range, sink, and top-loading refrigerator. Enclosed head with manual toilet with electric macerator, sink, shower wand. Engine compartment under cockpit/companionway.

Construction

  • Hull:  Fiberglass hand laminated FRP in a two-piece mold 
  • Deck: hand laminated FRP,marine plywood cored, applied non-skid 
  • Cabin: hand laminated FRP molded with deck, marine plywood cored
  • Keel: molded with hull, integral cast lead ballast
  • Rudder: foam-cored FRP, 316 stainless-reinforced cheeks, and bronze pintles and gudgeons
  • Cabinetry: teak & teak plywood, teak & holly soles 
  • Rig: painted aluminum mast and boom, keel stepped mast

Description

  • Hull color: white
  • Bow: spoon with sprit   Stern: double ended  Sheer: conventional 
  • Hull: round bilged, low wetted surface
  • Keel: full profile, wineglass sections, slack bilges 
  • Rudder: outboard, full keel swung
  • Cabin: long trunk, aft cockpit with high coamings
  • Rig: single spreader masthead Marconi cutter, bow sprit

Engine

  • Beta 38 Diesel Engine, fresh water cooled, wet exhaust engine compartment under companionway/cockpit. Manual reverse/reduction marine gear. 17″ Max Prop 3 blade feathering bronze propeller. 1 1/4″ stainless steel shaft. 
  • Ventus BOW7512D Bow Thruster

Electrical

  • Blue Seas Systems 12 volt DC system and 120 volt AC ship/shore power.
  • Victron MultiPlus Compact 12/2000/80-50 120V VE.Bus Inverter Charger with Victron VE.Bus Smart Dongle and Victron Energy 200/200 amp Digital Multi Control Panel GX.
  • Victron Energy SmartShunt 500 amp Battery Monitor.
  • Victron Energy Smart Battery Protect 12/24-Volt 100 amp
  • Victron Energy Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-Volt 30 amp 360-Watt DC-DC Charger
  • Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 Charge Controller
  • Navigation, cabin, and spreader lights, portable spot light, marine multi-bank battery charger, AC volt meter, AC and DC ammeters, and AC fresh water heater.

Batteries and Solar

  • Four 100 Ah 12V Battleborn lithium batteries in engine room
  • Two 100 Ah 12V Battleborn lithium batteries under V-berth (for bow thruster and windlass) indirectly connected via two Victron DC-DC chargers to the main lithium bank that allows bi-directional energy flow.
  • Two Optima D27M AGM batteries in engine room (directly connected to 120 amp alternator and indirectly connected to the lithium batteries via a Victron DC-DC charger.
  • Three 100 wall Renogy panels are mounted on top of the hard dodger (wired in parallel, because there is a risk of partial shading by the boom) and two 175 watt Renogy panels are mounted over the cockpit (wired in series to take advantage of low-light conditions).

Instrumentation

  • B&G Zeus 3S chart plotter, two Triton displays, Halo20+ radar, WS310 wind sensor, and DST810 depth/speed/temp sensor.
  • Standard Horizons GX1850B VHF transceiver
  • ICOM IC-M710 MF/HF SSB tranceiver
  • Simarine PICO battery monitoring system
  • ACR RLB-41 EPIRB, deck-mounted with hydrostatic release (Beacon Hex ID 2DCCB 1C8FE FFBFF)
  • Iridium Go Exec
  • Garmin inReach (in ditch bag)
  • Starlink (that had been converted to 12V)

Safety

  • 5 – 2.5 lb. dry chemical fire extinguishers. 
  • 5-  approved type personal flotation devices. 
  • 1- Type IV throwable device, lifesling, bow and stern pulpits, double lifelines, double jack lines, and multiple handrails. 

Ground Tackle

  • Mantus M2 55 lb. anchor
  • 45 lb. CQR plow anchor
  • 200′ 3/8″ chain rode 
  • 200′ 5/8″ rope rode
  • 45 lb. plow spare anchor

Sails

  • Main
  • Yankee
  • Stays’l 
  • Asymmetric Spinnaker
  • Storm Jib and Trysail
  • Schaefer Jib Furling
  • Forespar Boom Vang
  • Scanmar Monitor Windvane

Other

  • Custom FRP Permanent “Hard” Dodger
  • Katadyn PowerSurvivor 40E watermaker
  • 6″ Ritchie Compass
  • Force 10 3-burner Euro Sub-compact gimbaled range
  • Taylors 079K Paraffin Heater
  • Roller Traveler
  • AB Lammina AL 8′ RIB Tender with Yamaha 2.5 hp outboard

Winches

  • Two -Barient 28 STS primary 
  • Three -Barient 22 S halyard
  • Three -Barient 23 STC multi-purpose  
  • Lofrans Tigres horizontal electric windlass