Wooden Ships Comments on this Warner 33 Bermudan Cutter

This yacht was designed as the Warner 33 by Winthrop Warner and built by James Graves, Marblehead Mass. in 1954.

She is one of 12 believed to have been built to this design by the Graves Yacht Yard. A plug of the hull was subsequently made for a production GRP yacht to the same design.

Tara is an exceptional yacht. Her dimensions belie her size, her materials and construction are first class, her design is unusual on this side of the Atlantic, her performance is rewarding and her sea-worthiness proven by her years of off-shore sailing.

In the previous ownership she had a major refit in 1996/7, the major items of work detailed in the specification below, to produce a 100% sound yacht in exceptionally nice condition ensuring she continues to sail for years to come.

Winthrop ‘Wink’ Warner worked as naval architect in Connecticut and New Jersey producing over 200 designs as well as working as a draftsman for John Alden – he married Alden's daughter – and William H Hand. Although little known in Europe, his is a respected name in US yachting circles. His papers are lodged with the American Maritime Museum, Mystic Seaport, Maine. Marblehead is celebrated as one of the great yachting centres on the US east coast and the Graves Yacht Yard is one of Marblehead’s best known yards building many great American yachts over the years.

After 8 years in first ownership she was purchased by Sir Kenelm Guinness of the brewing family, a merchant banker in Washington. Tara remained with the Guinness family for some 30 years and in this time cruised the Eastern Seaboard from the Windward Islands up to Nova Scotia.

The present owner has a hand written letter from Sir Kenelm who writes warmly of his memories of the old boat. She was sold in 1992 to an Englishman who sailed her across the Atlantic and cruised from N Spain to Ireland and the UK.

She was imported to UK VAT exempt under the Transfer of Residence Relief.

In 1996 she was sold by Wooden Ships to the previous owners and underwent a major refit at Traditional Sail in Salcombe, Devon. During that extensive professional refit period this yacht received a new deck, coach-roof, engine, rig, systems and all the other details that go to make up a properly refitted yacht.

In the current ownership the yacht has spent 8 years cruising around the Mediterranean as a very comfortable and safe cruising yacht that turns heads everywhere she goes. She has now been brought back to the UK and will continue to be used on the south coast until sold.

The design is for a conventional long-keeled yacht with a deep heel and rising fore-foot to a short spoon bow. A large rudder is hung on the slightly raked transom stern. This is a compact design with no expensive overhangs and a generous beam to give her excellent stability and comfortable interior volume.

Specifications

• Length on deck: 33’
• Length overall: 37’
• LWL: 31’6”
• Beam: 10’4”
• Draft: 4’10”
• Tonnage (displacement): c.9 tons

• Carvel planked in mahogany all bronze screw fastened to steam bent oak timbers. Many of the oak timbers were sistered or replaced in the major refit.
• External iron ballast keel with iron bolts. 5 bolts renewed in 1996.
• Sawn timber floors across the centreline in either oak or cedar. Some galvanised strap floors in either end of the hull.
• The deck and superstructure were renewed entirely in 1997/1998.
• Sheathed marine plywood deck laid over laminated spruce deck beams. Beamshelf and clamp are original.
• Varnished mahogany toe rail all round with bronze stanchions.
• Varnished mahogany coachroof coamings with a sheathed plywood coachroof deck on laminated spruce deck beams. This whole coachroof was new in 1997/1998. Varnished mahogany dorade boxes with chromed bronze vents.
• Large and spacious cockpit which was completely rebuilt. The cockpit is a significant feature of the design.
• Scrubbed laid teak cockpit thwarts with lockers below and varnished mahogany coamings. Laid teak cockpit sole with large locker lids that hinge up to access the engine.
• Varnished teak compass binnacle in the cockpit with a cockpit table that folds down when not in use.
• Wheel steering with bronze steering gear in a box at the aft end of the cockpit. Transom hung rudder.

• Bermudan cutter rig on a keel stepped varnished hollow wooden mast of rectangular section. Twin spreaders with custom bronze fittings.
• Slab reefing varnished wooden boom, new in 2001 with custom bronze fittings. Boom gallows across the aft end of the cockpit.
• Stainless steel standing rigging, new in 2010, with bronze rigging screws to internal bronze chain plates.
• Short fixed bowsprit takes a genoa on a Facnor roller furling system.
• Self tacking boomed staysail sets on the inner forestay with a bronze sheet horse on the foredeck and a single sheet leading aft to the cockpit.
• Pair of Anderson 40 self tailing cockpit sheet winches.
• All sails new in 2002, mainsail, staysail and jib.
• Varnished spruce booming out pole with bronze fittings and bronze track on the mast.

• Volvo Penta MD2040 40hp 3cyl diesel installed new in 2003. Fresh water cooled, annually serviced. Approximately 1400 hours use.
• Volvo MS15L-A gearbox, rebuilt in 2022. Centreline fixed 3 blade bronze propeller gives 5.5 knots cruising speed at 1.5 litres/hour, 7 knots max speed.
• Rope cutter on the shaft.
• Tides Shaft Seal stern gland and bearing.
• 2 x 80 litre Monel fuel tanks, one in each cockpit locker.
• 2 x 120 litre Monel water tanks under the saloon settee berths.
• 1 x 85ah AGM engine start battery, new in 2021. 2 x 105ah AGM domestic batteries. Balmar 150 amp engine alternator with Balmar advanced regulator system and sterling split charge diode.
• Victron 30 amp battery charger when connected to shore power. Charger and AC wiring system new in 2016.
• Vessel re-wired in 2016.

• 5 berths with headroom of 6’6” in the galley, 6’ in the saloon and 6’3” in the forecabin.
• Forward cabin with generous V-berths. Infill converts to a double berth.
• Open chain locker forward by the exposed Sampson posts.
• Lockers under the berths. Large hanging lockers each side.
• Exposed hull sides, painted white.
• Varnished coamings and deck beams above. Fore hatch over, opening port holes.
• Stbd side doorway to passage aft to the saloon cabin.
• Port side door from fore cabin into the heads.

• Heads compartment to port in way of the mast. The heads compartment has 2 doors, one into the fore cabin and one to the passageway.
• Jabsco sea toilet. The original Wilcar Crittenden bronze sea toilet is available.
• Porcelain corner hand basin, H&C pressurised water, drains to a sea-cock below with original bronze fresh water pump.
• Full length mirror.

• Saloon cabin with staggered port and stbd settee berths.
• The stbd berth reaches further forward, the port side berth is set further aft with the heads compartment ahead and pulls out 6” to make a wide single berth or cosy double.
• Port pilot berth above the settee berth.
• A large table folds up forward against the heads bulkhead and drops down for use over the port settee.
• Staggered half height bulkheads with varnished mahogany capping.

• Stbd galley with smart, gimballed stainless steel Flavel gas cooker, 2-burners with fiddle rails, grill and oven.
• Enamelled sink in a varnished hardwood work surface, mixer tap and foot pump faucet.
• Plate stowage etc under the side deck behind.
• Surface in the after port corner, top-opening built-in fridge.
• Lockers under the side deck and electrical switch board above.
• Removable varnished mahogany companion steps to the cockpit.
• Twin varnished mahogany doors. Optional Perspex wash-boards allow more light into the cabin.

• 12v lighting. Red light over the chart desk. Pair of brass oil lamps.
• Webasto DL 2000 hot air heating with thermostat and twin outlets.
• Hot water from calorifier tank heated by the engine.
• 240v immersion heater for shore power.
• Calorifier and all plumbing.
• Pressurised H&C to galley and heads.
• Cockpit shower with mixer tap and flexible shower head in the port cockpit locker.

• Large Danforth Constellation steering compass with light in the original Kelvin White binnacle.
• Raymarine Wireless instruments – sounder, log and wind. 2 x display units new in 2016.
• Raymarine radar.
• Raymarine GPS plotter.
• Raymarine ST5 autopilot, new in 2016.
• Silva DSC VHF radio.
• ICOM IC-M71 handheld VHF.
• All electronics interfaced through the course computer, new in 2016.
• Masthead tri-colour light.
• Low level port and stbd bronze nav lights on the Dorade boxes either side of the mast.
• Stern light.
• Deck flood lights.

• Ocean Safety 4 person valise liferaft.
• Horse-shoe life buoy.
• Flares.
• 2 x fire extinguishers.
• Fire blanket at the galley.
• Mahogany boarding ladder.

• Lofrans Kobra 12 volt electric windlass with wireless remote control. New in July 2021.
• 16kg Lewmar Delta anchor, new 2021.
• 16kg KLI (USA) plough anchor.
• Danforth anchor.
• 150’ of 8mm chain, new in 2018.
• 100’ warp spliced to the chain.

• Beaching legs.
• All bronze original deck fittings.
• Anchor ball.
• Bosun’s chair.
• Gas bottle in after cockpit seat locker + spare.
• Fixed step on the transom and rudder for bathers.

• Bunk and berth cushions.
• Flavel Wayfarer 2 burner gas stove with oven and grill.
• 2 x gas bottles.
• Top loading fridge.
• Galley equipment.
• Fold down saloon table.
• Manual sea toilet.