Why the Hughes 38?

This page is for the Commodore and others to share their opinions on why the Hughes 38 is such a great yacht. The Commodore is expected to be partial towards this great yacht.

The Hughes 38 Upwind.

The book “Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts” was written by twelve of the most experienced and renown naval architects and marine engineers of the modern era. In that book, the editor John Rousmaniere states ” …decent speed is an essential component of good seamanship. Certainly, a boat should be a comfortable home when at anchor. But she should also have legs long enough to allow her to reach a distant harbor before the arrival of a gale and – should the gale catch her – enough close-winded speed so she can beat off a threatening lee shore to the safety of deep water.” (emphasis mine)

The Hughes 38 fulfills this in spades! By all accounts she can go to weather, pulling hard to 30 degrees off the wind, and cuts thru chop like few others can due to her fine ends and narrow beam. This allows her to claw off a lee shore – a key component of safety at sea. In addition to being unsafe, a boat that cannot go quickly to weather is not a fun boat to sail. Since man first jumped on a log and the wind pushed him across the pond, the challenge has been to make our boats go some other way than blown about by the wind, with the ultimate challenge being to sail into the wind.

Hughes 38 Directional Stability

In the same book “Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts”, these eminent authorities select 5 examples of good designs for offshore yachts. Of those five – two have the engine directly over the keel, and one doesn’t show the placement of the engine. This means that at least 40% of these ideal yachts are designed so that the weight of the engine is concentrated amidships – and below the water line. Although dead weight anywhere on a yacht is not desirable, weight in the ends of a yacht is especially harmful – especially when trapped in a gale or when going to weather.

Consider the effects of the weight placement on balance. An arrow has its tail feathers at the back of the arrow, as the arrow is deflected from a true course, the tail feathers drag as it moves thru the air and this pushed the tail of the arrow back on course. If the feathers were in the front of the arrow, the arrow would be unstable, and would easily flip around. The same is true for a boat. Long keel boats exhibit good directional stability due to more “feathers” being aft than forward, and thus they maintain their direction. The “feathers” position on a fin keel boat is even more important. If the keel (the feather) is too far forward, directional stability is compromised.

Now consider the effects of the placement of 300 to 400 lbs of engine weight being moved from under the companionway to above the fin keel. To keep the fore and aft balance, the ballast must be shifted aft while the engine is shifted forward. This means that the ballast must either be higher in the fin keel on average, OR the fin keel must be shifted forward. You can’t have the ballast as low as possible, the fin keel as far aft as possible, AND the engine under the companionway. This means that either the directional stability of the yacht is compromised OR the righting moment of the yacht is compromised when the engine is placed under the companionway. You either design for good balance and good righting moment OR for other considerations. You can’t have it both ways.

(Note here: We are NOT talking about the relationship of center of effort (CE) to center of lateral plane (CLP). That is another subject entirely; the relationship of the boat in the air to the boat in the water. That is NOT what we are talking about. We are discussing the relationship of the “feathers” (keel, rudder and skeg) to the movement of the water past the hull, the “arrow shaft”.)

A full keel boat is directionally stable for two reasons. One, the long keel resists turning due to the effect of the long lever arm in the water, and two, the center of the “feathers” is well aft on the hull. A fin keel boat does not have the advantage of the long lever arm, because its keel is by definition short! However, a well designed fin keel, placed appropriately on the hull will be stable due to the tail feathers effect. This gives the sailor the best of both worlds, the directional stability of the long keel when sailing and the quick turning ability of the fin keel, when maneuverability is needed for docking.

Hughes 38 and Prop Walk

Consider in addition the advantages of the bilge placed engine: the propeller is well forward, which means that there is less prop walk than a conventional design in which the prop is located well aft. Prop walk is the undesirable turning of the boat under power, usually in reverse and usually in docking. Turning about a pivot point is the result of a torque, which is force times arm. Since the Hughes 38 has the prop close to the pivot point, the arm is short, resulting in less prop walk for any given side force from the prop. This is not just theoretical, numerous owners of H38s have reported that the design has little prop walk.

Hughes 38 and Anchor Placement Offshore

It is a known fact that weight in the ends of a yacht is detrimental to the handling abilities, especially in heavy weather. Consider what Fatty Goodlander (who undoubtedly has more miles under his keel in a Hughes 38 than anyone else) says about the performance of the Hughes 38 with weight in the ends:

“On my… Hughes 38 Wild Card, I carried my 45-pound anchor and 180 feet of 5/16” High Test chain forward in my anchor locker while coastal cruising. But I laboriously shifted both inside my vessel to the base of my mainmast in the head, while offshore. Wild Card was, in my humble opinion, a dangerous vessel in a blow with that much weight forward, and a safe one when that same weight was amidships and lower. Weight placement is everything on a sailing vessel.“ (emphasis mine)

Hughes 38 Singlehandling

Although almost 40 feet long, the Hughes 38 has an easily driven hull, and therefore preforms well with less than 600 square feet of sail. Many singlehandlers report that for most people, 600 square feet of sail is the maximum that one person can handle alone. In addition, because of the large foretriangle and small mainsail, the Hughes 38 is a design exceptionally suited to singlehandling. Many owners install roller furling jibs, making the foretriangle easily manageable for one person. Numerous people report that with roller furling they are easily able to sail the Hughes 38 alone. Ability to singlehand is an important element of safety at sea. Because of the large foretriangle, the main is relatively small and easy to hoist with one person. The large foretriangle is also suited to conversion to a cutter, as the mast is relatively far aft for a sloop rig. Several owners (SV Wildcard, SV Verdia) have installed a staysail stay allowing use of a genoa staysail and a flying jib. SV Wildcard has roller furling on both the jibstay and the staysail stay. Separating the roller furling jib from the roller furling staysail makes both better setting when partially furled than one large jib. The Hughes 38’s rig is therefore very flexible.

Hughes 38 Build Quality

However, great design is only the start. If there is not great construction to follow then great design is wasted. We know that the Hughes brothers supplied S&S design #1903 hulls to Hinckley Yachts, who finished them and sold them as Hinckley 38s. Is Hinckley not one of the premiere makers of yachts of all time? Do they not have one of the best reputations for their build quality? If Howard and Peter Hughes built these hulls good enough for Hinckley, would you not expect them to last many year into the future? Hughes 38s do not have a reputation for blistering, pox, smiles on the keel, or oil canning. There is no core on the hull to become waterlogged. The skegs do now fall off, the rudders are not known to delaminate, and the keel bolts are not known to corrode. These are tough hulls, built with the best materials and practices known at the time.

Hughes 38 Value

Several people have compared the Hughes 38 to several different yachts, all of which cost much more than a Hughes 38. An obvious one is the Hinckley 38, as discussed above. Another common comparison is to the Yankee 38, which also has a great reputation, and was also designed by S&S. Only 30 Yankee 38s were built and they sell for considerably more than the Hughes 38. Catalina Yachts purchased the molds from Yankee when they went bankrupt and they produced the Catalina 38. Frank Butler installed a “balanced” spade rudder, and eliminated the skeg. The Catalina 38 design never was approved by S&S, for whatever reason, however different stories are told. What has been shown over time is that in the opinion of some, this spade rudder has caused control problems, especially downwind, and several owners have made modifications to correct this.

One internet poster said about his time on a Yankee 38 “I recall that as the wind built on the spinnaker run, she became very unstable, and started a rolling action. Jim at the helm, was spinning the wheel back and forth trying to stay under the spinnaker. The Cal 40 was completely solid under this condition and began to surf. The Yankee just dug in deeper and deeper.”

It always depends on what YOU want in a yacht. There are better party barges than an H38. There are far better floating condominiums than an H 38. There are faster yachts upwind than the H38. There are faster yachts downwind than an H38. There are more comfortable yachts in a seaway than an H38. There are roomier yachts than an H38. There are safer yachts than an H38. There are cheaper yachts than an H38, but you will have a hard time finding a better value in a great sailing yacht than a well maintained Hughes 38. The Commodore

Lin and Larry Pardee – An Interesting and Affordable Cruising Boat Choice

A Cruising Boat for First-Time Voyagers

“I want to go cruising now, don’t have a lot of money. What secondhand boats should I be looking at?” This is definitely in the top-10 list of questions potential voyagers ask us. During our 2008 voyage-diagonally across the Pacific from Ventura, California, to New Zealand-we stopped in only two places were other yachtsmen gathered. But the array of cruising yachts we saw there made for an interesting study. Yes, there were a lot of recently built boats in the 40- to 50-foot range with price tags ranging upward from $300,000. We also saw five catamarans, mostly very new ones in the 45- to 55-foot range. But liberally scattered among the fleet of 40 boats that came through the marina in Apia during our three-week stay, and the 80-plus boats we saw in Neiafu, Tonga, where we spent another month, were affordable secondhand cruisers ranging from a very modest 20-footer through the 26- to 40-foot range.

What is affordable? Three young people were earning their way as they cruised in an Alberg 30 they had bought for $22,000. One soon-to-be-married couple had set sail in a 25-year-old Mariner 32 they had purchased “ready to cruise, windvane and watermaker included,” for $40,000. Among the sailors we interviewed were four with affordable secondhand boats: a Cal 40 bought six years earlier for $40,000, a Rhodes Bounty II purchased for $68,000, a Catalina 36 that cost the owners $75,000, and an S&S-designed Yankee 38 that seemed a true bargain at $35,000.

As mentioned above, every respondent told of spending 25 to 35 percent of the boat’s purchase price to make it ready for a voyage across the Pacific. The affordable-boat-fleet owners tended to be closer to 35 percent. Were they as happy with their boats as those who had spent far more money for newer boats? It may just have been our impression, but they seemed to be more content with their choice (i.e., not yet looking toward “the next boat”), more carefree, and less concerned about money. More of the sailors in this group went out to join the local fun races in Neiafu. All definitely had lower expenses, far lower insurance premiums. In fact, three of these couples had chosen not to sell their homes and put the majority of their resources into a boat. Thus, since their boats represented only a limited portion of their assets, they did not feel they had to carry insurance for crossing oceans.

So now we’ll stick our necks out and answer the question: Which boat would we look at if we were in the market for a secondhand ocean cruiser? We definitely did see one among that 2008 fleet that would serve our purpose if we were looking for a cruising boat right now. It was the Yankee 38. Why? It has the pedigree of a good team of designers known for making sure the boat and its rig are strong. It is designed to go to windward well, to heave-to using a deeply reefed mainsail alone. It is modest in all its proportions-i.e., no long overhangs, a good long keel section (sure, we would prefer a full-length keel with keel-hung rudder, but compromises must be made). It has a hefty ballast-to-displacement ratio. It also sports a big spread of canvas with sufficient mast height and J measurement to carry generous light wind sails. And, at 15,500 pounds, it is a nice size and displacement for a couple to handle easily. Finally, a lot of these boats were built,¹ so not only did the builders get the bugs worked out, there should be a reasonable choice available on the secondhand market. The usual caveats apply. We wouldn’t limit our search to only Yankee 38s or Catalina 38s but would look for others that could meet the same criteria. In fact, the Tartan 38 and Hughes 38 come from the same designer and period and have almost the same dimensions, so we would include them in our search. But, more important, we’d demand that a very careful survey be done by a surveyor who does not know the previous owner or the broker who is handling the sale of any yacht we were interested in buying.

Written by Lin and Larry Pardey

One owner of a Hughes 38 writes: “We’ve been in some nasty stuff, with up to 10′ seas and 45 knot winds. She handles like crap unless you’ve got a bit of sail up to steady her. Then it’s like she’s on rails and she just plows forward. Her underwater hull is excellent for dropping gently back down after coming off the top of a big wave. New flat bottom boats pound hard in big waves, but the Hughes 38 gives an excellent ride.

“Don’t worry about her 27 foot waterline. She will drop into her bow wave as she builds speed. Before you reach hull speed the water is at the transom. Therefore, the waterline grows with movement, allowing greater speed.”

“Olin Stevens, who designed the Hughes 38, was the lead developer of the IOR rule system. I think he likely had her in mind when he developed the rules. Although long outdated, the IOR rules allowed for a design that is very easy to single-hand. Her mainsail is small for a 38′ boat, as she makes much of her power from the headsail. The mainsail is easy to hoist without help, and a roller furler makes simple work of any headsail. I run a 135% Genoa on a ProFurl C350. It’s excellent and ProFurl lets you take the furling line to a winch to furl it in under heavy winds.”

“The boat sails well on all points but is a bit cumbersome on a dead run. It will pull hard close hauled to 30 degrees off the wind.”

Another owner of a Hughes 38 writes: “I like the sea worthiness of SV_________. She handles choppy seas and rides the swell nicer than some of the more modern boats. The narrow beam helps with this. Some of the negatives would be space in the cabin, but this doesn’t bother me and my better half. We have space enough for a long distance trip.”

Yet another owner reports: “Although the typical S&S lines are not like the latest trends in hull shape she is a very easily driven hull, and a very seaworthy, proven design. I have no problem handling this boat solo.”

An owner reports: “One of the main reasons I fell for my Hughes 38 is because of it’s upwind ability, and it was affordable. The classic S&S lines show up in many other seagoing designs.” “(My Hughes 38) points like crazy”. “I love my Hughes 38, it got me to Mexico, no problem. Now I know why Capn. Fatty likes his so much. Headroom is about 6’3″”

A circumnavigator writes: “The Hughes 38 is a great design. She sails like a dream in all conditions” but adds “(Hughes) built some terrible gunitted messes… a few of which leaked water right through the hull! (The) hull to deck joint is a squished bike inner tube with no visible caulking!” and “Many of the Hughes 38s have balsa core problems, especially in the deck. They all have rotten wood in their chainplate webs and rotten mast-steps as well. All of them.”

Another owner writes: “…but this boat is solid, balanced, tracks well and can take a beating on when sailing close to weather. My crew has failed well before the boat has any time she’s ever been pushed. And while most of my cruising is in the Long Island Sound, the Sound can dish it out when the tide’s running opposite a 25 knot breeze – I’ve seen the waves stack up 6’+ and very close together. ”

Howard Hughes is reported to have said: “More than 17 degrees of heel is wasted on most monohulls”

Someone said: “The (late ’60’s to early ’70’s model) Hughes 38 is a really great sailing and well constructed S&S designed boat.”

However, the Hughes 38 has the bad habit of sailing on its anchor, unless there is windage aft such as a dodger, bimini, or riding sail. This is characteristic of yachts that are good performers to windward.

“The boat sails well on all points but is a bit cumbersome on a dead run. It will pull hard close hauled to 30 degrees off the wind.”