![]() What’s lacking in authenticity, though, is made up for in terms of comfort, usability and, given the many unusual innovative features, character. This is not a boat to please a traditionalist, by any stretch of the imagination. Once on board, the feeling is of being on a modern yacht. Stepping on, she is as solid as you would expect, with a deep lead keel and a 41 per cent ballast ratio. As Adrian puts it: “We all know what a pretty boat looks like.”Īt less than three tonnes and with no guardrail, the boat feels very accessible and easy to push around. The counter is inspired by post-war Metre yachts and the cabin, which slopes down at the front end (as there is not much sheer rising up to meet it) is influenced by IODs and the Nordic Folkboat. Combined with the narrowish beam and pleasing cockpit coamings that run back from the cabinsides in a single, hard-stepped line, this rare costume makes for one of the prettiest SoT boats around, with an authentic marriage of form and material: boats that originally looked like this were, like the R33, hand-built in glass with ally masts.ĭesigner Stephen Jones was freed from any tenuous connection to a particular yacht or designer, a premise that seldom stands up to scrutiny. So she has a retroussé counter instead of the standard sawn-off counter, square-oval portlights instead of round, a gentler sheer and a tall mast with double-spreader, 7/8ths fractional rig. Whereas every other SoT yacht is inspired by the inter-war years, the R33 owes its origins to post-war Metre yachts. In appearance, the Rustler 33 is an unusual beast, clothed in a motley collection from the dressing-up box of yacht design history. ![]() The Rustler 33 tends towards the radical end for a SoT boat, with a narrow fin keel, balanced rudder, Dyneema backstay and highly tweakable racing rig. It is now a fully fledged, postmodern riot of build materials, rigs and design below and above the waterline. Spirit-of-Tradition boatbuilding has come a long way since replicating old, or old-style, designs in glass. “It’s useless, but really nice to own, a bit like an Aston Martin,” Adrian adds. The Rustler 33 started life on the kitchen table of renowned yacht designer Stephen Jones in pencils, paper and inches, and the plug was built by hand so tweaks could be made – including drawing it out a foot to 34ft (10.4m). ![]() Previous boats have gone to Corfu, and smart sailing capitals like Auckland and Newport. Adrian and Rustler co-owner Nick Offord went to Stephen Jones with a simple design brief: “It’s got to look good and sail really well, and it’s got to be easy to own… we don’t care about headroom.” The first one was launched in 2012, and they are already building number 10. They started building their version in 2009 and have already sold 45. “Rubbishy tiny cockpit, bad rig… but a beautiful hull,” Adrian remembers. In 2006, Adrian spotted a gap in the market for a pretty daysailer and bought the moulds for the Piper 24. Princess Anne owned one, although she’s since changed to a Rustler 44. Rustler, founded in the mid-80s here in Falmouth, is known for its blue water cruising yachts, not least the classic, long-keeled Rustler 36 Holman and Pye sloop, which is still in build here in glass after a run of more than 200 boats. With water coursing down the windows of the office occupied by Adrian Jones, one half of Rustler Yachts, photographer Mervyn Maggs and I had suddenly become very enthusiastic about instant coffee and talking shop, as we waited for the promised window of sun and wind to appear. ![]() Subscribe to CB here.ĬORNWALL is desperately vulnerable to the mood swings of the Atlantic, and the day we chose to test sail the Rustler 33 was a classic – not a zephyr of wind and a low sky pressing its greyness into everything. The Rustler 33 is part of the modern tradition for fast, retro-styled day-sailers that are a charm to sail, painless to own and give enough accommodation for weekending.Īrticle taken in full from the August issue (CB314).
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