Dreadnought 32 Ketch
Description
The Dreadnought 32 is a robust, heavy-displacement blue water cruiser, designed in the early 1970s by John G. Hanna and William Crealock as a modern evolution of the classic 1932 Tahiti Ketch, with a fiberglass hull measuring 31 feet 11 inches in length overall, an 11-foot beam, and a displacement of 14,000 pounds bolstered by 5,500 pounds of ballast for exceptional stability and a motion comfort ratio of 42.3 that surpasses most contemporaries in seaworthiness. Built by Dreadnought Boatworks in Carpinteria, California, until 1983, with fewer than 100 units produced—many as owner-completed kits—the vessel offers versatile cutter or ketch rigging options, a deep fin keel drawing 5 feet 6 inches, and a sail area of 530 square feet that, while underpowered relative to its heft (PHRF rating around 240), delivers steady 4-6.5 knot speeds in varied conditions, as evidenced by circumnavigations and long-distance voyages reported by owners who praise its spacious interior, solid construction without balsa core issues, and unyielding offshore capability akin to the Westsail 32 but with better righting moment and accessibility for maintenance.
Construction Details
| Designer | John G. Hanna |
|---|---|
| Builder | Dreadnought Boatworks |
| Length | 32.000 ft |
| LOA | 32.000 ft |
| LWL | 30.000 ft |
| Beam | 10.000 ft |
| Displacement | 19980 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.750 ft |
| Year Built | 1973 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 40.30 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 14 ft |
| p | 34.80 ft |
| e | 13 ft |
| p2 | 24 ft |
| e2 | 9.30 ft |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40.30 ft | 14 ft | 34.80 ft | 13 ft | 24 ft | 9.30 ft | - | - |
Documents
Blueprints
Sails
Dreadnought 32 Ketch - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 34.8 ft - (10607 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 13 ft - (3962 mm) |
| Leech | * 36.44 ft - (11107 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 36.72 ft - (11192 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 6 in - (152 mm) |
| Area | * 233.64 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Dreadnought 32 Ketch - JIBSAIL
| Luff | * 34.13 ft - (10403 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 18.81 ft - (5733 mm) |
| Leech | * 29.24 ft - (8912 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 115 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 16.1 ft - (4907 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 11.97 ° |
| Area | * 274.78 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Dreadnought 32 Ketch - GENOA
| Luff | * 40.53 ft - (12354 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 22.84 ft - (6962 mm) |
| Leech | * 37.9 ft - (11552 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 21 ft - (6401 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | * 425.58 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Dreadnought 32 Ketch - GENOA
| Luff | 39.5 ft - (12040 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 19.92 ft - (6072 mm) |
| Leech | 36.5 ft - (11125 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 130.57 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 18.28 ft - (5572 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4.24 ° |
| Area | * 361.08 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Dreadnought 32 Ketch - ASYMMETRICAL
| Luff | * 40.53 ft - (12354 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 23.1 ft - (7041 mm) |
| Leech | * 37.29 ft - (11366 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 165 % |
| Area | * 702 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Dreadnought 32 Ketch - MIZZEN
| Luff | * 24 ft - (7315 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 9.3 ft - (2835 mm) |
| Leech-AftHdBd | * 25.21 ft - (7684 mm) |
| Tack Ang | * 88 ° |
| Diag (clew/head) | * 25.43 ft - (7751 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4 in - (102 mm) |
| Area (no Roach) | * 114.7 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.