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Delphia 33

2008 February 5
February 2008

Coastal cruiser

This cruiser is designed by Andrzej Skrzat for Delphia Yachts of Poland. I don't know much about Mr. Skrzat's work but I like the look of this design. Like most production boats today this design's intent is to combine accommodations and comfort with performance in a contemporary looking package.

This is a beamy boat with an L/B of 2.86. You can consider any boat with an L/B less than 3 as beamy. But this is the trend today and note how that beam is carried well aft to buy cockpit space and interior volume.

The profile shows a boat with a D/L of 203.9 on a relatively long DWL of 29 feet, 3 inches. The freeboard is high and there is minimal spring to the sheer. I like the look of the hull profile. Draft is 5 feet, 11 inches with a bulb-tipped keel hung on a deep keel sump to help get the center of gravity of the ballast low. The ballast-to-displacement ratio is only 25 percent, but coupled with the beam and the VCG of the ballast, the 33 should have good stability.

This deck is beautifully sculpted. It's unusual in that the cabintrunk is quite high aft with large fixed windows. The plane of the house where the windows are is slightly pulled back from the lower portion of the cabin sides to create some eye candy and visually reduce the height and bulk of the house. It works very well in this case. There is a flush hatch well forward in the bow for ground tackle. The cockpit is large with long seats and excellent access to the cockpit locker/lazarette area. A shallow swim step is notched into the transom. All lines are led aft on the cabintop to banks of stoppers flanking the companionway.

The Delphia 33 is laid out with a large quarter double berth to starboard and to port aft is a head. The nav station is snug but adequate. The galley with Corian counters features twin sinks but not much counter space for meal preparation except what you can find outboard of the sinks, when the lids are on the reefer. There are flush covers for the sinks, so this could be your working counter space. I like this galley because it shows some original thought. Forward of the galley is a short settee big enough for two. You step down into the forward stateroom, so headroom is preserved under the lower cabintrunk. The V-berth double is big. This is an unusual layout in some respects, but the photos show it beautifully executed and traditionally detailed in mahogany with a teak-and-holly-style sole.

The rig is absolutely "normal" for this type of boat. Spreaders are swept 23 degrees with inboard chainplates. The SA/D is modest at 17.01 but that should make for a stiff boat in a breeze that won't need reefing so soon. This hull and rig combination should provide enough performance to make the 33 a fun boat to race in PHRF, especially if you race where there is plenty of wind.

This design shows some original design touches and I admire that. So many of our production boats today are distinguished only by their decals.