Ohlson 38

Ohlson 38

The Ohlson 38 is a 38 ft cruiser racer sailing yacht designed by Swedish naval architect Einar Ohlson. About 128 boats have been built at various boat yards in Europe.

History The design of the OHLSON 38 dates back to 1967, when Swedish designer Einar Ohlson provided an extended version of his successful 36-footer. Einar Ohlson had made his mark as one of the most successful 5.5 M boat designers in the 1960s besides of Luders, Hunt or Britton Chance jr. His boats were incredibly fast and even today score well as classics within the 5.5 M race circus.

Richard ‚Jud‘ Henderson1 states in a chapter on the O-38, the O-38 had been planned for GRP-production from the start (in contrast to the 36s, which were built from wood). Following from a recommendation of US-importer Dick Shehann, a smaller version of the O-38, the O-35 was introduced into the market a few years later with a slightly more modern design featuring a shorter keel, but only five boats have been built. They were offered to the market in the same manner as the 38: their hulls were manufactured by Tyler in the UK. Ohlson presented a 41-foot version, but only 4 have been built, looking wonderful as well.

In later years Einar Ohlson produced another large-scale production boat, the Ohlson 8:8 (about 8.8 m /29 ft overall). These boats have been produced under a number of names and by various yards in Sweden.

The GRP hulls for the Ohlson 38 were laminated by the Tyler Boat Company Ltd. in Tonbridge/Kent in the United Kingdom and so were decks including the coachroof. Tyler had developed into the leading moulder at the time. Little is known that these boats have suffered from the major threat to GRP - osmosis.  

Einar Ohlson’s work has been recognized by Lucia de Sol Knight and Daniel Bruce MacNaughton in their recently published "The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers".

More to read on the Ohlson 38 1) Richard Henderson, Choice Yacht Designs