The Ohlson 38 is a 38-foot (12 m) cruiser racer sailing yacht designed by Swedish naval architect Einar Ohlson.[1] About 128 of these boats have been built at various boat yards in Europe.[1] The Ohlson 38 is known for its speed, which has been proven in a number of races.[2]
In 1967 the Ohlson 38 was created by Swedish designer Einar Ohlson. It was an extended version of his 36-footer[1] Einar Ohlson was a well-known 5.5 M boat designer in the 1960s like[1] Bill Luders, Ray Hunt or Britton Chance, Jr. His boats are still raced today as classics within the 5.5 M race circuit.[3]
The Ohlson 38 was GRP-produced, in contrast to the 36s, which were built from wood.[1] The GRP hulls for the Ohlson 38 were laminated by the Tyler Boat Company Ltd.[4] in Tonbridge, Kent in the United Kingdom and so were decks including the coachroof. The Ohlson Brothers (Bröderna Ohlson AB) in Västra Frolunda near Gothenburg finished boats primarily for the US market.[1] Other yards finished these boats, including Malö in Henån, Matthiessen und Paulsen in Arnis/Germany, and Alexander Robertsons & Sons in Sandbank, Argyll, Scotland.
Einar Ohlson’s work has been recognized by The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers.[5]
The Ohlson 38 is an ocean-going cruiser, and many extended voyages have been made with these boats, including Clare Francis's Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race with 'Robertson's Golly',[6] a woman's world-record transatlantic crossing speed record.[7] and other voyages have been written about by Richard "Jud" Henderson,[8] and Johanna Michaelis and Klaus Nölters with their circumnavigation on Ole Hoop.[9]
