If you love the idea of a pocket daysailer that looks timeless yet sails like a thoroughbred, the 2011 Alerion Express 33 Gallup should be on your radar. Currently listed for $195,000 in Chebeague Island, Maine, our editors see her as a standout in the brokerage market, an ideal choice for anyone craving performance, comfort, and classic aesthetics.

The Alerion Express 33 blends a modern, sporty hull with the traditional beauty of a Herreshoff-inspired topsides design. Step aboard Gallup and you’ll immediately notice the spacious cockpit, complete with high backrests, pedestal steering, and twin electric winches that put all sail handling within easy reach of the helm. A powerful sail plan with a self-tacking jib keeps things simple for shorthanded sailing, while the responsive helm and stable underbody ensure an engaging, confidence-inspiring ride.

In 2019, Gallup underwent a significant suite of upgrades totaling over $110,000. Highlights include a new in-boom furling system (a rare and highly desirable feature), new mainsail, hull paint, dodger portlights, and electronics. Since then, she’s seen only light summer use and has been stored inside with heat protection each winter.

Below deck, the Alerion 33 surprises with thoughtful, efficient accommodations. A forward V-berth provides private quarters, while the main cabin offers twin settees and generous shelving. The galley includes an Origo alcohol stove, top-loading Isotherm fridge, stainless steel sink, and plenty of storage. The head compartment is well-appointed with a Raritan marine toilet and deck hatch for ventilation. The teak and holly cabin sole, solid teak doors, and formica bulkheads maintain that signature Alerion balance of classic style and functional elegance.

Construction-wise, the Alerion 33 is a high-quality composite design. The SCRIMP-infused fiberglass hull features end-grain balsa core and vinylester resin reinforcement, with stainless steel through-bolted chainplates, a fin keel with lead bulb, and a carbon double-spreader Hall Spars mast. Decks and cockpit boast varnished teak trim, full-length cockpit seats, and a removable cockpit table, ideal for daysailing and short cruising in style and comfort.

Powered by a 20-hp Yanmar diesel engine with saildrive, Gallup cruises at an easy 8 knots under sail, with a range of 115 miles under power. The boat comes fully equipped with a Fortress anchor, life jackets, winch handles, fenders, and more. Yes please! 

Specifications:

• LOA: 33’ | Beam: 9’3” | Draft: 5’0”
  
• Engine: Yanmar 3YM20C, 20 hp diesel
  
• Fuel: 18 gallons | Fresh Water: 11 gallons
  
• Cabins: 1 | Heads: 1
  
• Price: $195,000 | Location: Chebeague Island, ME
  

With its combination of classic aesthetics, modern sailing performance, and high-end upgrades, Gallup is a rare find in the brokerage market, a boat that delivers both style and substance in equal measure. For sailors seeking a daysailer-cruiser that turns heads at the dock and delights under sail, the 2011 Alerion 33 is a solid choice currently offered for sale with Wellington Yacht Partners. 

The post Used Boats We Love: 2011 Alerion Express 33 appeared first on Cruising World.

It’s a match made in Maine. Sanford Boat Company of Nantucket has struck a licensing deal that will let Steve White and the crew at Brooklin Boat Yard take a step into the world of production boat building.

True, we’re not talking about a boat factory going up on the shores of Penobscot Bay, but for Brooklin, it’s an opportunity for the yard to branch out from its repair services and highly customized new-boat projects.

The Sanford Boat Company built its first cold-molded 26-foot Alerion Class Sloop in 1977; 22 were launched by 1983 and a handful more have been built since then by other licensees. The Alerion was said to be designer Nathanael Herreshoff’s favorite personal sailboat. Though Sanford sold the boats to customers around the country, today, 25 of the 29 Alerions built have found their way back to Nantucket, where they are raced and used as daysailors.

In a release announcing the deal, Brooklin Boat Yard owner Steve White said he’s wanted to build a production boat for some time now. “The Alerion Class Sloop is a proven boat – her design, construction and pedigree have been well established. She will reflect well on Brooklin Boat Yard.”

The post Alerion Class Sloops to be Built in Maine appeared first on Cruising World.

A quarter-century ago, Garry Hoyt launched what would come to be known as the daysailer genre with the introduction of the Alerion Express 28, a boat designed by the late Carl Schumacher that featured a minimal interior and a large cockpit where an owner and guests could enjoy the simple joy of sailing. Traditional and lovely looking — but with a quite modern underbody and a powerful sail plan — Hoyt, ever the marketer, proclaimed the boat to be “the prettiest girl at the dance.”

Since then, a number of siblings ranging from 20 to 41 feet have been added to the Alerion family, which is now owned by USWatercraft in Warren, Rhode Island. This past fall, the company introduced its latest model, the Alerion Sport 30, which retains the graceful sheer line, oval ports and stylish overhangs of the original Schumacher design. Yet with collaboration between USW and naval architect Langan Design Partners, it also embraces the performance-­oriented DNA of the builder, a licensed J/Boats shop that also owns the C&C race-boat brand.

I got to sail the Sport 30 during CW’s Boat of the Year sea trials this past fall in Annapolis, Maryland. In breeze that barely rippled the surface of Chesapeake Bay, the boat’s generously roached mainsail and self-tending jib captured whatever wind there was to keep us moving. Unfurling the gennaker — set on a top-down furler attached to the optional fixed carbon-fiber sprit — increased the oomph factor and boosted the speedo to 3.1 knots, a little better than the wind speed, and hinted at the performance possibilities we might have enjoyed had a good solid puff come along. Construction of the Alerion appeared to be top-notch. The balsa-cored hull and foam-cored deck are both resin-infused. A carbon-fiber reinforced composite grid is glued into the hull for stiffness, and the interior, crafted in a single mold, is then installed.

Down below, the Alerion is simple but functional, offering sitting headroom that would be fine for a weekend away or as a shelter on a rainy afternoon. Cushioned settees line the sides of the saloon, and there’s an open V-berth ­forward, with a head beneath and a curtain for privacy. Just inside the companionway there’s a galley of sorts with a cooler and ­single-­burner cooktop.

The boat comes standard with a carbon-fiber spar and aluminum boom, tiller steering, a self-tacking jib set on a below-deck Harken roller furler, and a 12-horsepower Volvo diesel and saildrive with a two-blade Gori folding propeller. The boat we sailed had the optional Edson wheel steering, aforementioned sprit and an Ocean Volt electric motor with lithium-ion batteries, which together brought the sail-away price to $255,000, up from a base price of $229,500.

BOTY technical judge Ed Sherman noted, “We’ve got to give it some kudos for the electric motor and the batteries, because that whole piece of it works very well, and it seems like a reasonable package to me, for the intended buyer.” When it’s time to steam from or back to the dock, simply pull out the engine-control lever and move it either forward or aft to set things in motion. At half-throttle, the motor pushed us along at 3.5 knots (the builder said we could expect a range of five to six hours); wide open, we saw 6 knots (with a range of two to three hours).

The real focal point of the Alerion though is its roomy and comfortable cockpit. Forward of the large steering wheel there’s seating for three or four guests. Aft, the helmsman has his or her own space to work. The mainsheet and halyards are led to winches mounted on pedestals just forward and to either side of the wheel. I found the jib sheet, led from the cabin top, was fine for the crew to handle but a little awkward to control when I was at the wheel. The Boat of the Year judges also questioned whether the boom could have been raised a couple of inches to better accommodate a tall helmsman.

But those are minor points. Overall, the Sport 30 seems to be a well-thought-out and finely equipped addition to the Alerion line. It’s the first model to be conceived of and built from start to finish by USWatercraft, and to my eye, like its predecessors, it’s the belle of the ball.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

The post Alerion Sport 30 appeared first on Cruising World.

For more information, visit www.azureeyachts.com

The post Alerion Sport 30 appeared first on Cruising World.

For more information, visit the Alerion Yachts website.

The post Alerion Sport 30 appeared first on Cruising World.

Alerion 41

There was no mistaking the new Alerion 41, waiting patiently in its slip for Scott Bryant of Alerion Yachts to get us under way. As her designers intended, she exhibits most of the characteristics that made her smaller siblings in the Alerion Express line so popular.

The A41 descends directly from the original 28, designed in the 1980s by the late Carl Schumacher for Ralph Schacter of Southport, Connecticut. An enthusiastic owner of an Express 27, also by Schumacher, Schacter wanted to combine the classic good looks of Nat Herreshoff’s legendary Alerion with a modern underbody and rig. The Express 28 would be a daysailer, with minimal accommodations below and a cockpit layout suited to easy solo sailing.

| |On the 41, the cockpit’s the place to be. All sail control lines lead back to winches just forward of the helm. Guests can stretch out forward, while the skipper has room of his or her own in which to work.|

Although the Alerion 41 shares many of the AE 28’s design themes, the look has evolved over time. Still, from a distance, her proportions seem just right. Keeping her freeboard relatively low takes full advantage of the lovely sheer line, which is the key to creating a “buy me” first impression, and gaining headroom via the superstructure gives the thoughtfully designed interior a chance to seal the deal. Elliptical portlights, and teak eyebrows and handrails reduce the perception of height.

Alerion Yachts’ design team conceived the 41 as a comfortable coastal cruiser for “multiple couples,” to quote the brochure. The master stateroom forward features a comfortable V-berth. A hanging locker on the starboard side is deep enough to swallow a modest selection of skirts, shirts and trousers for dressier activities ashore, and the bureau right forward seems adequately spacious for stowing socks, underwear, T-shirts and other small items. The head opposite the bureau is a little tight but not uncomfortably so — just one of the compromises necessary in fitting accommodations within the confines of the hull’s design. Natural light and ventilation come from a hatch let into the foredeck just forward of the trunk cabin. On gloomy days, you’ll want to turn on the electric lights.

| |A well-appointed interior includes private cabins for two couples and a very livable saloon, with standing headroom throughout.|

The saloon fills the middle of the boat, and in a pinch can accommodate two guests for overnight stays. A drop-leaf teak table splits the area and serves both settees during meals. Finished in the Herreshoff style of white overhead and panels trimmed in varnished teak, the saloon is cozy and very inviting. My favorite feature is the convertible nav station at the after end of the starboard settee: Remove the narrow cushions, raise the desk to its proper height and lock it into place. This arrangement assumes that the owners will navigate most of the time via electronics, though the desk will accommodate a book of paper charts. Two stowage cabinets, accessed via louvered doors, on each side of the saloon hold sundries.

Coastal cruisers have the option of tying up at a marina every night and eating ashore, but the A41’s galley won’t force the issue. It’s a seamanlike U-shaped affair with a deep double stainless sink, LPG stove with oven, microwave, drawer-style DC refrigeration and an icebox. Owners will find adequate stowage in an assortment of cabinets for tableware and dry goods.

You’ll find the second private stateroom aft on the starboard side — really an expanded quarter berth, with room for two adults. I thought this area was a bit tight, but it would be great for off-watch crew to sleep in during overnight passages. I liked the wet/dry hanging locker here.

| |A handy fold-down swim platform and ladder is incorporated into the transom in a way that does not detract from the boat’s graceful lines once it’s been raised.|

Fully one-third of the A41’s length overall is cockpit. Settees in the forward section encourage guests, especially the nonsailors, to relax and watch the world go by. My favorite feature topside is the articulated platform in the transom. Deployed, it is a swim platform, but more important, it eases boarding from a dinghy.

Out on Narragansett Bay, this little beauty’s easily driven hull and lightship displacement of 16,000 pounds barely put a strain on the 40-horsepower Yanmar with saildrive, so the engine remained unobtrusive throughout its rpm range. Nevertheless, we were happy to raise sail and listen instead to the wind hissing over the rigging.

The halyards lead via rope clutches to winches on the after end of the coachroof. Molded-in sheet wells keep the cockpit tidy. This example of the A41 had the optional Hall Spars VBoom, which neatly captures the fully battened mainsail via lazy jacks and the boom’s deep-V shape. It’s simple and lightweight.

Sailing the A41 also is simple. All of the sail controls lead under the deck to the Harken reversible electric winches mounted just forward of the wide-diameter wheel. In a moderate breeze, the A41’s high-roach main and nonoverlapping jib, set on a Hoyt Jib Boom, hustled us close hauled at 8 to 9 knots and about 30 degrees to the apparent wind. The helm remained light and well balanced, and once we were in the groove, she would nearly steer herself. Tacking merely required turning the wheel.

After about 30 minutes at the helm, I began to learn the A41’s language well enough to mostly ignore the telltales and instruments. What a lovely boat to sail.

The Alerion 41 was given special recognition in the 2014 Boat of the Year awards. Click here to read more. View more photos of the Alerion 41.

Dennis Caprio is a freelance marine writer based in Newport, Rhode Island. This article first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Cruising World.

The post Alerion 41 appeared first on Cruising World.

Over the last decade, “gentleman’s daysailer” has become a popular phrase in the lexicon of pleasure sailing, and the term aptly describes the fetching and delightful new Alerion Sport 33. A revamped version of the Alerion Express 33 (also built by Pearson Marine Group), the Sport version has shed 700 pounds of displacement, added a longer, expansive cockpit, and discarded some of the coastal-cruising frills and amenities found in its sister ship. The end result is a boat that’s peppier and, well, a whole lot sportier than its predecessor.

And boy, oh, boy is it an absolute joy to sail, as we discovered on a gorgeous afternoon last summer on Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. In a dying northeast breeze of 6 to 8 knots, we tacked upwind and registered 6 knots of extremely close-winded boat speed. With a powerful, fully battened main and self-tacking, 100-percent, fractional jib (a 105-percent genoa with dedicated primary winches is also an option), we had plenty of horsepower for the rather squirrelly conditions. The tiller was feathery and light, the motion sweet and solid. Optimistically, we hoisted the big asymmetric kite just as the breeze died altogether. It seemed like the fun was over until we spied dark patches on the water filling in from the south.

That’s when the slick, handsome daysailer really came alive. We jibed on the fresh, 10-knot southerly, and the Sport 33 kicked up its heels, skimming across the rippling blue carpet at 7 to 8 knots. Sitting low in the deep cockpit with the mainsheet, mounted on a central pedestal, close at hand—as was the control line for the traveler, which is situated well aft but led forward via an ingenious recessed compartment—I found it fun and easy to play the big main in the puffs. It wasn’t only thrilling; it was also very . . . civilized.

It’s no accident, either. For an outwardly simple boat, a lot of effort and thought went into the deceptively sophisticated layout and sailing systems. The aforementioned Spectra traveler is robust, with 6:1 purchase. The mainsail and the self-tacking jib can be trimmed with coarse or fine-tune adjustments. All reefing lines and sheets are led aft beneath recessed tunnels, but they disappear into dedicated boxes under nifty, removable teak coaming planks when not in action.

With its straight stem, teardrop ports, gentle sheer line (effectively underscored by a sweet cove stripe), minimal freeboard, and lovely counter stern, the Sport 33 incorporates some classic design elements. But once again, looks are somewhat deceiving: The carbon mast, Nitronic rod rigging, and SCRIMP infusion-molded construction technique are thoroughly modern features. So, too, are the underwater appendages: an angular fin keel with an integral ballast bulb and a separate blade rudder.

Down below, the sitting-headroom interior is simple but not spartan. There’s a V-berth forward, a head compartment, and a couple of long settees. In other words, there’s enough room for a long weekend aboard or a pleasant picnic in inclement weather.

But with the Alerion Sport 33, clearly, that’s not the point of the exercise. It’s meant to go sailing.

Herb McCormick is CW’s senior editor.

The post Alerion Sport 33 appeared first on Cruising World.

A raceboat, a cruiser/racer, and a cruising boat all come, it seems, with obligations. You have to race or cruise or do both or you’re not using the boat to its full potential. Well, if you don’t want to feel obliged to do either, you need a daysailer.

Pearson Composites has been obliging sailors with just that idea for many years. With the Alerion Express 45, it has raised both the comfort level-it has standing headroom-and the potential range of a day’s sailing while maintaining the same aesthetic model.

As do its smaller siblings, the 45 has a big, roachy mainsail and a self-tacking jib on a Hoyt boom. Sailing it takes little effort, especially given the electric primary winches. The sails are tended from the helm, so guests can take their ease in the generous cockpit.

If the day stretches into night, the full galley, head with stall shower, and forward and aft cabins will each come into their own.

www.alerionexp.com

The post Quick Look: Alerion Express 45 appeared first on Cruising World.

When Nat Herreshoff designed his Alerion, which was destined to become his favorite personal boat, few thought of sailing for pleasure as anything other than a daytime occupation. For those of similar mind today, the Alerion Express 33, designed and built by Pearson Composites, should have considerable appeal.

To provide satisfying performance in light air without demanding great effort from a solo sailor, the boat has a large, roachy mainsail and a relatively small self-tacking jib set on the patented Hoyt Jib Boom. The roomy cockpit allows half a dozen passengers to enjoy the ride.

True to the Herreshoff idea, the Alerion Express has no lifelines (although they can be ordered) and in case the mood or weather encourages it, simple but elegant appointments below accommodate overnighting.
www.alerionexp.com

Alerion Express 33 Specs

LOA: 33′ 0″
LWL: 26′ 7″
Beam: 9′ 3″
Draft: 5′ 3″
Sail Area 490′
Displacement: 8,000 lbs
Engines: Yanmar 20 hp
Designer: Pearson Design Team
Pearson Composites
401-683-9450
www.alerionexp.com

The post Quick Look: Alerion Express 33 appeared first on Cruising World.

For several years, the design gurus at what is today Pearson Composites have been developing a line of boats that have two main purposes: to be a pleasure to sail and a pleasure to gaze upon. Named and loosely styled after Captain Nat Herreshoff’s favorite personal boat, the Alerion Express series also embraces a tenet strongly expressed by L. Francis Herreshoff in that their purpose doesn’t require that anyone spend a night at sea in them; they are, after all, daysailers.

At the Miami Strictly Sail show last February, the Alerion Express 33 was introduced; it’s the fourth in the series and right on target for the designer’s objectives. It’s beautiful to behold, both from aboard and afar, and it sails like a dream. It’s not inexpensive ($235,000), but at today’s real-estate prices, it runs out far less than a bungalow with a water view.

A glance at the spec sheet reveals the secret to the boat’s sailing potential. It’s more slender by nearly 2 feet than modern cruising boats the same length; it’s low to the water, which keeps the sail plan low; and it has a deep enough keel to give real meaning to its 45-percent ballast ratio. On the water, it behaves accordingly.

Of course, a daysailer in the purest sense really needs for amenities only a cockpit and perhaps a cuddy wherein to stow loose gear and a picnic hamper. Still, if without compromising its primary purpose it can accommodate a small crew for a night in a magical anchorage, so much the better. And if that means no standing headroom below, so be it-plenty of room for that on deck or in the companionway with the hatch open.

Just in case a fine weekend lures you into sailing beyond the bounds of your home harbor, the Alerion Express 33 has a small Isotherm DI 40 DC refrigerator to keep the beverages and cold cuts cool and a single-burner Kenyon KISS butane stove on which to heat up a can of soup or water for the morning coffee.

Forward of the little galley, a toilet, concealed under a hinged teak bench, faces a varnished vanity. This area and the V-berth can be shut off from the saloon by closing the cabin door and a panel above the fridge.

The decor is, appropriately, “Herreshoff,” with white panels offset by teak trim varnished to a deep luster and navy-blue upholstery-a timeless combination that creates a relaxing atmosphere with a hint of luxury. Anyone nostalgic for the warm cocoon feeling so markedly absent from most of today’s cruising boats will find solace here.

Cozy as the interior is, the exterior is where you expect to be most of the time. The cockpit is set up for singlehanding-this is a boat that lies in a slip or on a mooring awaiting its master’s whim. Between the companionway and the command station, a pair of lavishly cushioned benches accommodate passengers, seated or supine.

All the running lines are trimmed from the helm-a 36-inch wheel that’s in easy reach of the helmsman’s preferred perch on a coaming-and an electric winch provides the muscle where needed. The full-battened mainsail has lots of roach to harness the steadier wind aloft unimpeded by a backstay-the tall, carbon-fiber mast is engineered to stand up without one. Lazy jacks and single-line reefing help tame the sail should you stay out too
long when the sea breeze builds up on an incoming tide.

The mainsail is the boat’s driving force, but it gets a measurable boost from the self-tacking jib that’s set on a patented Hoyt jib boom and is as tweakable as the mainsail: The sheet provides macro trim; the “flattener,” similar to the outhaul on a roller-furling main, controls draft; and the boom prevents the leech from twisting off as the sheet is eased. A pair of gas springs mounted under the foredeck oppose the sheet, pushing the boom out as the sheet is eased and opening the sheeting angle. (Want to clear the foredeck for anchoring action? Let the boom push itself out to starboard.)

A little wind goes a long way on the AE 33, and in under 10 knots, it topped 6.5 knots upwind. Off the wind, the big main pushed it at a lively pace. No gentle sailor will miss the clutter and flutter of a spinnaker.
While a daysailer needs auxiliary power only to take it to where the wind is, the 20-horsepower diesel will do that at hull speed (if a little noisily), ensuring, too, that this boat will get you home with dispatch after you’ve squeezed the very last out of a dying breeze.

Both the hull and deck are infusion molded by Pearson Composites using the SCRIMP system, giving the Alerion Express 33 heirloom potential while serving a variety of sailors, among them those whose cruising days are done, or are yet to be, or those who simply like to sail a simple boat.

Alerion Express 33 Specs

LOA: 33′ 0″ (10.06 m.)
LWL: 26′ 4″ (8.03 m.)
Beam: 9′ 3″ (2.82 m.)
Draft: 5′ 0″ (1.52 m.)
Sail Area (100%): 495 sq. ft. (45.98 sq. m.)
Disp.: 8,700 lb. (3,955 kg.)
Ballast: 3,300 lb. (1,497 kg.)
Ballast/Disp: .38
Disp./L: 179
SA/Disp.: 21.0
Water: 11 gal. (41.7 l.)
Fuel: 18 gal. (68.2 l.)
Mast height: 46′ 0″ (14.02 m.)
Engine: Yanmar 3YM20C 20 hp with sail drive
Designer: Garry Hoyt, Pearson Design Team
Price: $235,000 sailaway
Newport R&D, (401) 683-9450, www.alerionexp.com

Jeremy McGeary is a CW contributing editor.

The post Alerion Express 33 appeared first on Cruising World.