After almost four years with her, here's my point of view on the original design.
What I like about the original design
- Price 😉
- Classic design lines.
- Easy access to the engine compartment.
- Encapsulated keel.
- Low draft, 4.5 feet.
- Roomy main cabin (11.25 ft beam).
- U-shaped galley.
- Dedicated navigation desk.
- Solid fiberglass hull (no core).
- "Built-in" dorade boxes (at least on my boat).
- The boat sails pretty well.
- Original through-hulls are installed inside an enclosed locker. In theory, a failure would only flood about 5–10 ft³.
- Interesting mast design: the spreader plate is welded into the mast, effectively dividing it into upper and lower sections.
- The toilet is installed fore and aft, so you can do your thing on both tacks.
What I don't like about the original design
21 Jul 2025
- The stanchion construction is typical for Irwin boats. The idea of making them sturdy is good, but the implementation is questionable.
- Very difficult to seal at the deck joint: a vertical pipe passes through the deck and takes radial loads, which cracks the thin sealant layer.
- Stanchions are hollow stainless steel pipes, not sealed at the top or around the lifeline holes, so they trap water.
- Supposedly, a glassed-in wood block supports the pipe, but in my case many stanchions were not actually seated in these blocks, suggesting inconsistent manufacturing.
- Bulkheads sit in the molded cabin liner without adhesive or sealant. Shower water collects in these cavities and is absorbed by the plywood; as a result, the lower sections of all bulkheads have rotted.
- The compression post sits on the suspended cabin sole liner, not on the keel or hull. The manufacturer attempted to bridge the gap with a blob of epoxy/sand filler, but missed alignment by about 4 inches, leading to cracks in the liner, which was never designed to carry mast compression loads.
- The chain locker is undersized for a 34' boat (only about 12–15 inches deep), and the hatch has no latch.
- No backing plates on chainplates, especially for the forestay and backstay.
- Integrated fuel tank under the starboard settee: the top is meant to be removable, but sealing a 10-foot plywood lid to a fiberglass tank (which flexes with the hull) is unrealistic.
- Deck drains (scuppers) are simple ~1" fiberglass tubes inserted into holes and sealed. Over time the sealant fails and water leaks into the structure.
- Deck-to-hull joint: conceptually acceptable, but poorly executed. Assembled with self-tapping screws into a small wood strip glassed to the hull edge, then covered by an aluminum angle also fastened with screws.
- Cockpit drains are poorly designed: combined into a single through-hull with four 90° bends and about 10 feet of hose.
- Even worse, sink drain hoses are used as cockpit drains.
- Engine mounting is inadequate: softwood blocks with lag bolts holding the engine mounts, taking both axial load and vibration.
- The swing keel (centerboard) axle is glassed in with no side bearings or wear plates. It grinds against the sides and develops play over time.
- No proper flat area on the keel to support the boat on blocks forward of the centerboard.