Sadler · Sailing yacht

Sadler 32

The Sadler 32 is a 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) masthead-sloop cruiser-racer that David Sadler drew as a roomier, stiffer development of his Contessa 32; Sadler Yachts of Poole, Dorset, launched the first boat in May 1978 and built just over 300 from 1979 to 1989, and Mike Slack later finished 13 more on the east coast from the original moulds. It came with a deep or shallow fin keel, twin keels (very few) or a lifting centreplate, always with a skeg-hung rudder and a tiller; Sadler’s foam-filled ‘unsinkable’ construction only arrived with the Sadler 29 and 26 in 1981 and 1982, and the 32 is built conventionally, its hull stiffened with extra ribs and stringers and its furniture bonded in. The engine depends on the year: a 30 hp four-cylinder Watermota Sea Panther until about 1982, then a 20 hp Bukh DV20ME and from 1986 a Volvo Penta 2002, each with its own propeller; many boats have been re-engined since, most often with a Yanmar, so read the engine plate before ordering parts. Sadler Yachts went into administration in August 1988, and the builder’s manuals, brochures and data sheets now sit in the members’ library of the Sadler & Starlight Owners’ Association (SSOA).

Manuals & documents

Sadler Yachts went into administration in 1988 and publishes nothing. The builder’s manuals, brochures and data sheets are in the members’ library of the Sadler & Starlight Owners’ Association. Its old website, with a transcription of the Sadler owners’ manual, survives on archive.org, as do the articles of Mike Lucas, who worked for Sadler International and Starlight before running a Sadler brokerage. We host no manuals or brochures.

Marked “unofficial copy”: the maker publishes no manual for this model any more, so the link goes to a third-party copy. Prefer the maker’s or a dealer’s version if you can get one.

Equipment & its manuals

Standard equipment as the builder’s documents list it. Boats were ordered with options and refitted since — check what is actually aboard.

ItemModelManual / pageNote
EngineWatermota Sea Panther 30 hp1,2,3,4Standard from 1979 to about 1982: a four-cylinder, water-cooled 30 hp engine marinised from a commercial-vehicle engine—Mike Lucas (1998) found it more than powerful enough but with very little room around it for maintenance, and found several different propellers on boats of this period.
EngineBukh DV20ME 20 hp1,2,3,4Standard from about 1982 (Mike Lucas; 1983 in the SSOA’s data) to 1986, with a 16 × 12 in propellerBukh DV20 Parts & service pageLucas called it ideal for the boat. He saw many owners replace the exhaust bend every couple of years (Bukh later improved it), and recommends Bukh’s retrofit cold-start kit for engines that have lost compression.
EngineVolvo Penta 20021,2,3,4Standard from 1986, the same engine as in the Sadler 29, with a 16 × 10.5 in propellerVolvo Penta 2003 Parts & service pageOur Volvo Penta 2003 page also covers the two-cylinder 2002 and gives the part numbers that differ.
Propeller16 × 12 in · 16 × 10½ in4,5Bukh DV20ME: 16 × 12 in; Volvo 2002: 16 × 10.5 in; several sizes in the Watermota years (Mike Lucas, 2000)—Shaft 1 in with a 1:12 taper and a 0.25 in keyway, as on every 1-in Sadler shaft. The builder’s manual covers fixed propellers (castle nut with split pin) and folding ones, and asks for the shaft anode to be checked regularly.
Shaft & stern gear1 in shaft · stuffing box or shaft seal1,6,5Until about 1981 a packed stuffing box with a screw-plunger grease reservoir; 1981–82 an oil-lubricated seal fed from a reservoir in the engine box; from the mid-1980s a Deep Sea Seal; after the change to Volvo engines a Volvo shaft seal (Mike Lucas, 1998)—The gland is reached by lifting out the liferaft stowage bin. Salt water in the oil reservoir means failed neoprene rings (Lucas). The builder’s manual also describes the stern tube supplied by Bukh: a flexible stuffing box filled with outboard gear oil from a tank about 0.25 m above the waterline, whose three seal rings and hose are renewed every three years. Lucas suggests a 25 mm Volvo seal as the cheap replacement on the 1-in shaft, checked with Volvo first. Cutless bearing in a P-bracket; a shaft anode was standard, a hull anode is often missing.
Fuel system77 l tank1,3,7Steel tank on the early boats, generally stainless steel by 1981; 17 gallons (77 l) in Mike Lucas’s data—Plastic fuel hose was used until the late 1980s; Lucas recommends proper diesel hose or copper or steel pipe instead. He also advises renewing the exhaust hose before it breaks up inside and causes overheating.
Mast & riggingDeck-stepped masthead rig8,9,1,2Masthead sloop with inner forestay and babystay and a backstay tensioner, the mast stepped on deck; boats built before 1981 had a roller-reefing main boom and no proper kicking strap, later ones slab reefing, with the halyards led aft to coachroof winches and clutches up to 1988—Lucas (2000): the oldest 32s should by now have had mast, boom and rigging renewed, the babystay can give trouble, and rigs from 1986 on are reliable. Deck gear is fastened into large aluminium plates fitted in the deck during construction, which a metal detector will find.
FurlerStearn Twinstay · Colnebrook · Kemp (from 1984)9,10,11,7Various headsail systems before 1984, when Kemp became standard (Mike Lucas, 2000); the builder’s manual gives servicing for the Stearn Twinstay/Dynafurl foil, with parts from Stearn/Sparcraft, and for the Colnebrook roller-reefing drumSadler owners’ manual, pages 6–10: Stearn Twinstay/Dynafurl operation and servicing (SSOA transcription, archive.org)Lucas warned that spares for the early systems are hard to get and that most of them will need replacing; for a new furler his table gives a Furlex B Mk II (200S) as the size for the 32.
WinchesLewmar No. 8–40 · Barlow12,11The builder’s manual (written for the 26 to 34) has parts lists for the Lewmar No. 8 and No. 10 single-speed, the No. 30 and the No. 40 (single and two-speed) and for Barlow single-speed and self-holding winches; it does not say which sizes a 32 carriesSadler owners’ manual, pages 16–20: Lewmar and Barlow winch parts lists (SSOA transcription, archive.org)All the Lewmar winches listed use pawl 1260/8 and pawl spring 1260/7. Hose them down monthly, strip and grease them two or three times a season and completely every winter, with Lewmar 7010 or Barlow grease and a drop of light oil on the pawls.
SteeringTiller · skeg-hung rudder13,1,5Tiller on a rudder hung on a skeg; the rudder bearing sits in a bronze casting on the skeg, which has to come off to renew it (SSOA helpline)—Free play in the tiller-shaft bearings of Sadlers also appears in the SSOA’s helpline index; the builder’s checklist asks for the tiller to be lashed whenever you leave the boat.
AutopilotTiller-pilot socket (prepared)14,13No autopilot as standard: the builder glued a bronze socket for a tiller pilot such as an Autohelm into the cockpit coaming and ran a cable from behind the aft cockpit bulkhead (starboard) to the switch panel, where it was left unconnected—The manual gives an 8 in extension bar for the Sadler 32. The boat Yachting Monthly sailed in 2026 steers with a Simrad TP22.
ToiletSowester15,5The builder’s manual describes a Sowester sea toilet with two seacocks and prints its parts list (59127 series; fastener kit 59300-0101, seal and gasket kit 59300-0102, both in repair kit 59300-0100)—The manual’s checklist for leaving the boat closes the WC and washbasin seacocks (three) and the sink drain.
Water pumpShurflo 1021 (pressure water)15On boats with pressure water the builder’s manual names a Shurflo model 1021 and its repair kits: pump body 84-482-07, switch 84-302-05, piston 84-506, bearing and eccentric 84-502—Switch it off at the panel after use: the pump is damaged if it runs dry.
FridgeCoolbox1,14A coolbox: improving the Sadler 32’s coolbox by injecting foam, and fitting a fridge unit to coolboxes, were questions to the SSOA’s helpline in the 1990s—The builder’s manual also explains an EKS 100 refrigerator for 12 V and 220 V, for boats that have one (battery fuse 6.3 A quick-acting, mains fuse 0.5 A slow-blow, both 5 × 20 mm).
BatteriesPlastimo master switch14,5Plastimo battery master switch with positions 1, 1 + 2 and 2, wired for two or three batteries (builder’s manual)—Do not turn it with the engine running, or the alternator can be damaged. The radio telephone is wired directly to the batteries, not through the switch.
StoveGas cooker, gimballed13,14Gimballed gas cooker in the galley to port of the companionway (Yachting Monthly, 2026); the builder’s manual covers the gas system and the stove—Check the joints with soapy water, turn the gas off at the bottle when not in use and leave the oven door ajar over the winter.
Antifouling6 l for two coats8Builder’s manual: 6 l of antifouling for two coats on a Sadler 32; on first commissioning the keel gets a metal primer and a two-pack seal coat, the rudder and skeg the same without the primer—Bare glassfibre must be degreased and given a glassfibre primer first; over an unknown old coating the manual puts a barrier coat.

Specifications

Years built1979 to 1989 (SSOA); the first boat was launched in May 1978, according to the company timeline of co-founder Christine Sadler, and a new Sadler 32 sailed the 1979 Fastnet Race2,16,13
Hulls builtJust over 300 built by Sadler in Poole (300 in the SSOA’s data); afterwards Mike Slack built 13 more on the east coast from the moulds (12 to 14 according to Mike Lucas, most supplied as sets of mouldings); a few were also built in South Africa2,3,13
DesignerDavid Sadler, designer of the Contessa 26 and 32; he joined his son Martin’s company full-time in the late 1970s and drew the 32 as an improved Contessa 322,16
BuilderSadler Yachts Ltd, Poole, Dorset, founded by Martin Sadler in 1973; works in Dawkins Road from 1977, larger premises in the same road from January 1979; in administration from August 1988, after which a new team bought the assets and launched the Starlight range2,16
PredecessorNone at Sadler; the design develops David Sadler’s Contessa 32 (built by Jeremy Rogers since 1971), with a foot more beam, higher topsides, a straighter sheer and a heavily cambered deck2,3,13
Length overall9.6 m (31 ft 6 in), excluding the rudder17,2,3,18
Waterline length7.32 m (24 ft 0 in)2,3,18,17
Beam3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)17,2,3,18
DraftDeep fin 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in), shallow fin 1.4 m (4 ft 8 in), twin keels 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), centreplate 1.1 m raised and 2.0 m lowered (SSOA, 2001); Mike Lucas gives 5 ft 6 in, 4 ft 6 in, 4 ft 0 in and 3 ft 6 in / 6 ft 6 in, Yachting Monthly 1.68 m for the fin17,3,19,18,2
KeelDeep fin, shallow fin (about a third longer), twin keels (very few 32s) or a centreplate raised by a deck winch or a hydraulic ram (on the Sadler 25 the steel plate is housed wholly inside the ballast keel); separate skeg-hung rudder; the builder bedded the keels on Roboseal 02919,13,5
Displacement4320 kg (9500 lb) in the SSOA’s data of 2001, in Mike Lucas’s data and in Yachting Monthly (2009); 4300 kg with fin or twin keels in the SSOA’s current data17,7,3,18,2
Ballast1860 kg (4100 lb) in the SSOA’s data of 2001 and Mike Lucas’s measurement table; 1905 kg (4200 lb) on his brochure page, in the SSOA’s current data and in Yachting Monthly (2026), a ballast ratio of 44.2% by the SSOA’s reckoning17,7,3,2,13
Sail area55.75 m² (600 sq ft) with mainsail and 150% No. 1 genoa (SSOA; Mike Lucas: 215 + 385 sq ft); Yachting Monthly (2026) gives 39.3 m² (423 sq ft); sail area/displacement ratio 15.1 (SSOA)2,7,13
Mainsail20.0 m² (215 sq ft); luff 10.4 m, foot 3.2 m (Mike Lucas’s measurements for re-ordering)7
GenoaNo. 1 genoa (150%) 35.8 m² (385 sq ft), luff 11.9 m, LP 5.8 m; No. 3 luff 11.4 m, LP 3.2 m (Mike Lucas)7
Light-air sailsSpinnaker 69.7 m² (750 sq ft) (Mike Lucas)7
Rig dimensions (I, J, P, E)I 12.11 m, J 3.58 m, P 10.51 m, E 3.20 m; mast 11.63 m long, stepped 1.50 m above the waterline, rake 20 cm (8 in); 7 mm rigging wire, a 5 mm babystay on boats of 1979 to 1981 (Mike Lucas, 2002, who asks owners to check against their own boat)7
Air draft14.1 m (SSOA; Mike Lucas: including a 1 m VHF aerial)2,7
EngineWatermota Sea Panther, 30 hp, four cylinders, from 1979 to about 1982; Bukh DV20ME, 20 hp, from about 1982 (1983 in the SSOA’s data); Volvo Penta 2002 from 1986, the engine of the Sadler 291,2,3,4
Fuel tank77 l (17 gal); steel on the early boats, generally stainless steel by 1981 (Mike Lucas)3,7,1
Water tank182 l (40 gal) (Mike Lucas)3,7
HullGlassfibre, stiffened with extra ribs and stringers, with the joinery and bulkheads bonded to the hull (SSOA); large aluminium plates fitted in the deck during construction take the fastenings of deck gear (Mike Lucas); not the foam-filled inner moulding that Sadler introduced with the 29 and 262,1
Headroom6 ft (1.83 m) in the saloon, given by the heavily cambered deck; a little less forward of the main bulkhead13,2,3
CabinsDouble forecabin reached through the heads; saloon; galley to port at the foot of the companionway; quarter berth to starboard13,20

Good to know

  • Sadler Yachts no longer exists. The SSOA (membership £20 a year) keeps the builder’s manuals, brochures and data sheets, decades of technical articles, a forum and a busy Facebook group for its members, and its public yacht list shows the 32’s data and engines by year. The association’s old website, with a page-by-page transcription of the Sadler owners’ manual, and the articles of Mike Lucas on rigs, keels, propellers and engines are still readable on archive.org.21,2,8,1
  • Check which engine you really have before ordering parts or a propeller: the Watermota Sea Panther (to about 1982), the Bukh DV20ME (to 1986) and the Volvo Penta 2002 each came with their own propeller (16 × 12 in with the Bukh, 16 × 10.5 in with the Volvo), and many boats have been re-engined, most often with a Yanmar. On a Bukh, look at the exhaust bend, which Mike Lucas saw replaced every couple of years.1,4,2
  • Find out which stern gland is fitted before ordering seals: a packed stuffing box with a remote greaser on the early boats (the manual has the greaser turned every two hours under engine and whenever you leave the boat), an oil-fed seal in 1981–82, then a Deep Sea Seal and finally a Volvo seal, both of which need ‘burping’ by hand at every launch. The gland is reached by lifting out the liferaft stowage bin.1,6,5
  • The 32’s cockpit drains run to seacocks in the port sail locker and under the starboard quarter berth, reached by lifting the cockpit floor and the stowage trough; the builder’s manual leaves these and the engine intake open when you leave the boat, unlike the other seacocks. Strip and grease every seacock with Blakes grease before launching, once in the season and at lay-up, and renew old drain hoses with double clips.12,20
  • On a survey, look closely at the keel joint and the rudder bearings: the SSOA’s helpline dealt with a gap between hull and shallow fin, with problems of trim and balance after a Sadler 34 keel was fitted to a 32, and with removing the bronze casting on the skeg to renew the rudder bearing. The builder bedded keels and underwater fittings on Roboseal 029.1,5
  • On boats built before 1981 expect an original roller-reefing boom without a proper kicking strap, and before 1984 headsail furlers for which spares are scarce. Mike Lucas advised renewing rig, mast and boom on the oldest boats and keeping an eye on the babystay (5 mm wire on boats of 1979 to 1981, 7 mm later), and found the rigs from 1986 on reliable.9,7

Videos & how-tos

Links to YouTube, nothing embedded. The maker’s own channel comes first; the rest are channels we found clear and correct for this model.

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Sources

  1. web.archive.org/web/20010216152236/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/docs/techart.htm
  2. sadlerandstarlight.co.uk/home/classyachts
  3. web.archive.org/web/20010126063800/http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk:80/brochure/32.htm
  4. web.archive.org/web/20010419200240/http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk:80/articles/prop.htm
  5. web.archive.org/web/20071209133904/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual7.…
  6. web.archive.org/web/20071029141838/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual6.…
  7. web.archive.org/web/20021013051829/http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk:80/articles/hull_sa…
  8. web.archive.org/web/20080402002000/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual0.…
  9. web.archive.org/web/20010219122433/http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk:80/articles/rgdck.h…
  10. web.archive.org/web/20080403234416/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual1.…
  11. web.archive.org/web/20071229195347/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual2.…
  12. web.archive.org/web/20071225222539/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual3.…
  13. yachtingmonthly.com/reviews/yacht-reviews/sadler-32-used-boat-review-a-lot-like-a-contess…
  14. web.archive.org/web/20071223101455/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual4.…
  15. web.archive.org/web/20071209133910/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/manual/manual5.…
  16. web.archive.org/web/20130810133435/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk/sitedata/Downloada…
  17. web.archive.org/web/20010219125408/http://www.sadlerandstarlight.co.uk:80/docs/sadler32.h…
  18. yachtingmonthly.com/reviews/yacht-reviews/sadler-32
  19. web.archive.org/web/20010219122800/http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk:80/articles/keels.h…
  20. web.archive.org/web/20011124085522/http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk:80/articles/caution…
  21. sadlerandstarlight.co.uk/

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