Pacific Seacraft Taps Robert H. Perry for New Model. At a national conference of Pacific Seacraft Corporation dealers held last month CEO, Allan Poole and the Pacific Seacraft management unveiled plans for the new Pacific Seacraft P-38 cruising yacht. In somewhat of a departure for the company, Pacific Seacraft has tapped Robert Perry for the new design. Pacific Seacraft’s Director of Marketing and Product Development, Jerry Cann observed, “When we set out to do this new project, Bob Perry immediately came to mind. We feel Bob’s technical skills are especially well balanced by his artistic sensibilities. We have previously worked with Bob on other projects, including of course, the Saga 43 and Saga 48 which we now build here in Fullerton. It is important to say, we are very comfortable with Bob’s ability to not only respect the style and long standing traditions of the Pacific Seacraft brand, but to design a new Pacific Seacraft that will set a whole new level of performance, comfort and “sail-ability” for mid-sized blue-water cruising yachts, no matter what the brand.” Robert Perry needs little introduction to cruising sailors. He has often been credited by various sailing media as the originator of the “Modern Performance Cruiser” concept. His first production design, the Valiant 40, was inducted into the US Sailing Hall of Fame and is in good company there with Pacific Seacraft’s own Crealock 37, another early inductee. Perry designed yachts can be seen in every major cruising harbor around the world. Besides Valiant, Bob has produced numerous commercially successful designs for Tayana, Tashiba, Baba, Norseman, Nordic Yachts, Islander Yachts, and Passport. Over 5000 cruising yachts have been built to his designs. The design brief Pacific Seacraft handed to Perry specified a medium displacement yacht with a moderate LWL/Beam ratio and a high range of positive stability (~140 degrees) for real ocean crossing ability. Perry retained a traditional cutter rig --- long a Pacific Seacraft hallmark, and added his own twist. The P-38 rig is proportioned a bit oversized to insure satisfying light air speed without the need to resort to clumsy overlapping headsails which usually creates awkward handling problems and excessive strain on shorthanded cruising couples. Other design parameters included more hull speed, greater stability and a longer cruising range than previous Pacific Seacraft models. Perry answered the challenge with a longer waterline (34’ & 7.9kts hull speed), a very high righting moment for a 38 footer (2059 ft-lb.) plus100 gallons of fuel capacity which is estimated to yield over 525 NM range at 75% hull speed. Stalwart Pacific Seacraft fans should be delighted with both the cruising performance and the P-38’s sweet and classic lines. In a world where prospective cruising sailors seemingly expect to take along their every possession and still be able to accommodate the visiting kids or “the Grands.” The P-38 takes a big step to accommodate their desires. This is the first Pacific Seacraft less than 40’ with a true guest stateroom, a big shower stall, and even an option for two heads. All the berths are a minimum of 6’8” in length; and absolutely nothing has been miniaturized in the accommodations. Ample storage space and the highly engineered modern cruising systems promise to make this 38 rival the 42 footers in accommodation, speed and comfort. “Without a doubt, Bob Perry has hit the nail on the head with the P-38! Many of the goals that we originally set for him, we didn’t really expect could happen. Bob has, in fact, surpassed them all.” Cann remarked. At the close of the meeting, CEO, Allan Poole, informed his dealers. “I know many of our current owners and fans will be wondering about the direction we are heading and what about Bill Crealock. Bill in fact is working on yet another product development project of ours --- a much bigger Pacific Seacraft – think a Crealock 60! It’s a bit off into the future so we will release details later this year. As for the 38, it won’t actually replace anything in the line, except for the 377 project that never actually got beyond a couple of drawings.”