Carter 33
£7,000-£17,000
In the 1970s and early 1980s Olympic Marine at Lavrion, only 30 minutes from the new Athens airport built for the 2004 Olympics, was one of the most prolific boatbuilders in Europe.
The Carter 33, from the board of successful American designer Dick Carter, was a cruising yacht based on a well proven offshore racing hull with excellent handling characteristics.
Construction started when Greece was still governed by the right wing colonels who took power in a coup in 1967. Yet the Carter 33 became a mainstay of many early charter fleets, while also gaining popularity with private owners both in the Mediterranean and northern Europe.
Relatively wide beam creates good internal volume for a boat of this era, which allowed for pilot berths above and outboard of the saloon berths, giving a total of seven berths on paper. Today, these areas make valuable additional stowage space, in addition to the useful volumes outboard of the settees. However, maximum beam wasn’t extended aft, so there’s only one single quarter berth and no aft cabin.
On deck there’s a large, though narrow, cockpit, but wide side decks and a large flat foredeck area. By today’s standards the boat has a very moderate underwater profile with a fin keel and skeg-hung rudder that confers good handling characteristics. The hull shape is easily driven in light airs, yet has a well balanced shape that’s able to take heavy weather in its stride.
As a result the Carter 33 now makes an excellent, capable budget cruiser with enough space for civilised life on board. A large number were built over a period of almost a decade, with additional boats built in both Sweden and Australia. There’s an argument that says you’d want to have a lot of spare money – or a very pressing need for more space – before buying a significantly more expensive boat.
Olympic Marine went on to build the Carter 37 and 39, Olympic Adventure 47, Olympic Sea 42 and Omega 56.
This design was hugely popular in charter fleets throughout the eastern Med from the late 1980s to the early 2000s and remained in build for almost 20 years. It was based on a design from Jeanneau and for a 30-footer of its era offers surprisingly good accommodation that benefits from plenty of natural light and ventilation. Although the double forecabin is relatively small, the quarter cabin is a generous size, with a large berth, standing space and good stowage. There’s also a decent galley, a proper chart table and saloon in which the settees also make good sea berths, as well as a folding table that can comfortably seat seven.
The underwater shape has many similarities to the Westerly Fulmar, although the shorter overall length means the forward sections are proportionately beamier. Nevertheless this is a boat that also sails well, thanks to an efficient hull shape, lead keel and generously sized rig.
Early versions had a closed transom, but by 1987 this had been changed to a much more modern walk through arrangement incorporating a small bathing platform. Later there was also an option of a 0.8m (2ft 8in) extension on the transom, which extended both the bathing platform and the effective waterline length, albeit at the expense of a little extra weight. These models were called the Discovery 3200.
They have a reputation as strong boats with hull laminate that was well laid up, while the foam in the sandwich decks readily absorbed resin and rarely suffers from problems. However, relatively minor quality control issues included leaky deck fittings and windows that were difficult to seal, which dulled the design’s reputation. On well maintained boats these problems will have been solved long ago.
Are Discovery 3000s a good long-term buy? For what it’s worth, I’ve owned one for 20 years and have no intention of selling. The design offers comfortable living, reasonable light airs performance and great strong wind capabilities. Despite the extra accommodation volume it’s consistently faster than older designs of a similar or slightly larger size, including the Dufour Arpege, Carter 33 and Rival 34.
The Lavrion-based yard subsequently built a lighter and more modern boat of a similar size, the Atlantic 31, plus the larger Ocean Star 51 and 56. However, Dromor’s most attractive model, other than the Discovery 3000, is the Apollo 12/12 Plus. This 36-footer (or 38 with the later extended transom) offers decent accommodation allied to a sleek hull shape, yet is not well known and often sells for surprisingly modest prices. The biggest downside was the hydraulic wheel steering, which lacks feel and was not always 100% reliable. If I bought one I would rip the system out and fit a tiller instead.
dromor.gr
Sailing greater distances and spending longer periods than usual on board can trigger some of the breakdowns and breakages that are, to some extent, an inevitable part of boating. However, there’s much that can be done a few weeks in advance of a summer cruise that will dramatically cut the odds of encountering problems.
A couple of well targeted hours spent looking at critical systems is key to ensuring the boat is in as good a shape as possible. The following checks will enable you to have as much confidence as possible in the reliability of the boat and its equipment in any reasonable weather conditions you might encounter.
Electrics
The events of the last 12 months mean it could easily be close to a year since you’ve used many of the systems on board, whether they are mundane such as the light in the heads, or more critical to the safe operation of the boat.
Next time you’re on board a quick check that every electrical item works will minimise any problems that need to be sorted at the last minute. It’s easy to forget items that may not be used on an average weekend, so make sure you include autopilots, windlass and the bilge pumps.
At the same time take a quick look in the spares box. Is there a complete set of bulbs for every type of light fitting? What about spare fuses? And, in case you do have to troubleshoot problems while away, does the battery in the multimeter need to be changed?
It’s also worth making an assessment of the boat’s batteries. Do they still seem to