Design 1959 C3 Palmer Johnson 34

 

We have made numerous postings about this very successful design, the S&S 34.  She is design #1959.  We have had a number of confused buyers or owners inquiring about this particular version, the Palmer Johnson 34.  Lets set the record straight.  The Palmer Johnson 34 brochure lists Nautor of Finland as the builder.  That is completely false. Like the Swans that Palmer Johnson marketed and did not build themselves, these S&S 34s were marketed and sold by P.J. but built by Michael Winfield & Partners. Ltd. of England (later known as Aquafibre International).  We know of at least 12 units sold through P.J.

The boats were identical to the boats sold abroad with the exception of an increased sail plan.  The "I" dimension is 2-6" taller than the English counterparts resulting in a sail area increase of 27 square feet.  Heres the P.J. 34 sail plan.

And heres a copy of the original P.J. 34 brochure.  Note the misleading credit to the builder on the cover page. Also note the LOA is listed as 33-7".  This was probably done for marketing reasons only and is not correct.

 

 

 

Principal Dimensions
LOA 33-6"
LWL 24-2"
Beam 10-1"
Draft 5-10"

Displacement 9,195 lbs

Ballast 4,800 lbs

Sail Area 484 sq ft

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1959 C2 S S 34 by Swarbrick

We have discussed the S&S 34 before and also the model licensed for sale in the United States, the Palmer Johnson 34.  We dont know exactly how many of these popular boats have been built, only that in the first year of production at Winfield & Partners (later known as Aqua Fibre), 39 contracts were signed.

The boat shown here is yet another version, built by Swarbrick of Western Australia and designated as Sparkman & Stephens design #1959-C2.  The images shown are of a launch sequence of a new boat from the early 1980s.  We dont know exactly how many were built by Swarbrick at that time either.

Here is an interesting article from the Italian magazine Yachting Quarterly about the S&S 34 design in general, in Olin Stephens own words.

Any way, back to Swarbrick.  Did you know these boat are again in production and available from Swarbrick?  Heres a brief article about the subject from Cruising World magazine.  As always please double click for zoom.

More information can be obtained from the builders website by clicking here.

Principal Dimensions
LOA 33-6"
LWL 24-2"
Beam 10-1"
Draft 5-10"

Displacement 9,195 lbs

Ballast 4,800 lbs

Sail Area 484 sq ft

Read More..