mason 33 sailboat review

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Mason 33 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

• Thread starter Steve
• Start date Feb 9, 2006
• Brand-Specific Forums
• Other Sailboats

On the verge of purchasing a 1985 Mason 33. Anyone feel like offering up positive and negative experiences this this model?  

john morris

curious steve, i read your post from last month and wonder if you bought the mason 33 i had seen advertised in long beach, ca. beutiful, well made boats. i'm looking at a cape dory 33' myself and looking for other opinions. thanks john  

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Has anyone here owned, sailed on, or worked on a Mason 33? I'm interested in all opinions. I've been looking at PSC 34s but the Mason 33s are starting to become the front runner in my boat search. There's plenty off comments on the larger Mason boats on the forum, but I'm having trouble finding info on the 33s (they only built 27 of them.) Thanks, Gary  

email me Gary we ended up buying a Mason 33 last year, and love her more each day. Incredible boat. Email if you want to talk more --- she is in San Diego, heading for San Fran as soon as spring weather allows Terri this thing won't let us post email addresses, but will try: windsaloft at rmisp dot com  

windsaloft- FYI, you're better off posting e-mail addresses the way you did, since it is far less likely to get harvested by a spammer's webbot. To post links or live e-mail addresses you need a minimum of ten posts.  

Thanks Windsaloft, I sent you an private message and would love to talk to you about your boat/ boat buying experience.  

Lion- Be aware that WindsAloft won't be able to PM you until he has 10 posts IIRC....so you may want to e-mail instead.  

Thanks for the heads up Sailingdog. Windsaloft you have direct email through sailnet turned off. Please email me at (munged up email address to break the spam spiders) gary followed directly by snyder at the domain name of baymoon with the normal dot com on the end. I'm ready to make an offer on a Mason 33 and would love to talk to you first. Thanks  

Mason 33 Practical Sailor did a nice review of the 33 many years ago. It's worth taking a look at if you're interested in a boat. You can order a reprint.  

"(munged up email address to break the spam spiders) gary followed directly by snyder at the domain name of baymoon with the normal dot com on the end." Thanks for my smile of the day. That'll make a few spambots meltdown.  

Did any information get exchanged on the Mason 33? I tried the email addresses but they bounced.  

This was 4.75 years dead, try PM the members, go to song thread make needed number of post then PM, "Let the Dead stay Dead"  

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by Eric Aaland | Apr 28, 2012 | Boat de Jour , Boat Reviews | 4 comments

Mason sailboats have always brought out the romantic adventurer in sailors. Because of their sheer beauty, and because they are built to sail around the world, Masons appeal not only to those with an appreciation of fine, traditional lines, but also to those with ambitious cruising plans. This combination of high aesthetic values and offshore capabilities has been tremendously successful; over 200 Masons have been built to date. It’s hard to think of any sailboat that has more circumnavigations under its keel than Mason. One Mason 44 has been around the world three times. A Mason 53, already around the globe five times, is reportedly on her sixth circumnavigation. Developed and built by Pacific Asian Enterprise (P.A.E.), which has also developed the successful line of Nordhavn offshore power vessels, Masons are synonymous with beautiful, handcrafted interiors, impeccable gelcoat, and meticulously finished stainless-steel hardware. Their beauty is furthor demonstrated by how well they sail on and off the wind. Maximizing sailing performance right up to the point of not sacrificing cruising comfort, they represent a remarkable value in today’s market, along with a high resale value. Because each Mason is an individual reflection of her new owner, they are sold one at a time directly by those who are responsible for building them.

The above excerpt is from the Nordhaven website.

I have just today become acquainted with the Mason line of sailboats and I gotta say I am in lust! If you notice there is a beauty sitting in the much acclaimed “Boatdejour” spot to the left. What a beauty! If I were to come into some money tomorrow there is a very good chance I would be calling a broker. As a certain Mr. Tilllerman used to be fond of saying, “OMG!” I don’t know if there are still any readers left of the once popular Boat de Jour , but if you have any experience with these beauties I would love to hear about it.

Feast your eyes on these!

All images compliments of www.yachtworld.com

Hi!! of course there are some readers in this magnific website.

I own a MASON 33, Florence May of Cowes, currently based in the Mediterranean, in South Spain. They are fantastic boats, really capable and the quality is superb to say the least. Mine has done two Atlantic passages and one round the world, and still looks like the first day. You can´t really compare it with average market boats. Quality is sooo superior that when a sailor compare another boat with these Mason 33´s, you feel embarrased of being so lucky owning them!!

If you just want more information about or some pictures, you can simply ask me for them or visit my website.

Congrats for your site and apologize for my English (not my native language)

Thank you for telling us about your beautiful Florence May! I took a look at your blog site , very nice indeed! I am sure the Mediterranean is a very beautiful place to sail and what a fantastic sailboat to do it on. I went to look at our boat the other day as she is on her cradle and wrapped for the winter. I am counting the days till we can launch in the spring! Your English is much better than my Spanish. Gracias por leer! Vela feliz!

With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My blog has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any methods to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d genuinely appreciate it.

Masons are an absolute dream to sail and I believe second to none. They look the way a sailboat should look like and sail even better. From when they were first built to present day it would be hard to find a better boat. I’ve sailed Masons with no reef, perfectly heeled and she performed like an absolute dream in all conditions.

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Review of Mason 33

Basic specs..

The boat is typically equipped with a Westerbeke 35C diesel engine at 35.0 hp (26 kW).

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.6 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Mason 33 is about 163 kg/cm, alternatively 918 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 163 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 918 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

Maintenance

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Mason 33 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us . Criticism helps us to improve.

The Mason 33 is a 33.75ft masthead sloop designed by Al Mason and built in fiberglass by Ta Shing Yacht Building Ltd. between 1984 and 1989.

20 units have been built..

The Mason 33 is a heavy sailboat which is a reasonably good performer. It is stable / stiff and has an excellent righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a bluewater cruising boat.

Mason 33 for sale elsewhere on the web:

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The Best Sailboats for the High Seas?

At the St. Petersburg Boat Show month last month, I had the pleasure of seeing delivery skipper and author John Kretschmers presentation on what he called sailboats for a serious ocean. I have reservations about any ideal boat list, but Kretschmer, who reviews boats for Sail Magazine and whose most recent book Sailing a Serious Ocean is available in our online bookstore , has the ideal background for this sort of work, and a list like this is undeniably helpful for wannabe cruisers who need a place to start their search.

I certainly wouldnt limit my search to boats on such a list, but by paying careful attention to the pros and cons of each, you can find something that suits your own aspirations.

Here are the boats Kretschmer suggests: Contessa 32, Pacific Seacraft 34, Pretorien 35, Cape Dory/Robinhood 36, Valiant/Esprit 37, Prout Snowgoose 37, Alajuela 38, Privelege 39, Freya 39, Passport 40, Caliber 40, Baba 40, Hallberg Rassy 42, Taswell 43, Hylas 44, Norseman 447, Beneteau 456, Outbound 44, Hylas 46, Kaufman 47, Tayana 48, Hylas 49, Amel Maramu 53, and the Sundeer 60/64. For a brief capsule summary of each, be sure to check out his website.

The list is hardly definitive. There are plenty of good boats that arent featured, and some of these would be ill-matched for the wrong sailor-Kretschmer clearly pointed this out during his talk. I like how the list presents a good cross-section of the various shapes and sizes for a boat in this category. For example, Kretschmer includes the Prout Snowgoose and Steve Dashews Sundeer 60, boats that, notwithstanding their successful record at sea, fill an outlying niche.

If I were going to expand the list, one of the heavier-displacement microcruisers like those I blogged about would be a nice addition. Although I would be wary of promoting even the most formidable of this breed as well-suited for a serious ocean, John Neale of Mahina Tiare Expeditions includes one of them, the Dana 24, on his own list of recommend cruising boats . Neales much broader list of boats is accompanied by a very helpful discussion of design elements to consider.

What got me thinking about formidable cruising boats was our series of reports o n sailboat construction , focusing specifically on structural details. Although there are plenty of excellent coastal cruisers on the market, once you start talking about offshore duty, scan’tlings (the dimensions for structural components) take on far more importance.

A few years ago we touched on this subject in our Mailport section, encouraging readers to suggest their own nominees for a list of what we called at the time, tough boats, vessels that were built to take a beating, requiring minimal care and upkeep.

Here are some of the boats that were suggested from our readers: Mariner 36, Cal 34, Morgan 43, Swan 43, Bermuda 40, Island Packet 26, Mariner 47, LeComte Northeast 38, Westsail 32, Dana 24, J/35, and the CSY 44.

Id be interested in hearing of other nominees for this list, or other good resources for sailors looking for a short list of good offshore boats.

For those who are frustrated to find that their own ideal boat isn’t on anybodys list, I wouldnt be too miffed. The best line Ive heard in a while on this topic came from Steve Callahan, the author of the survival classic Adrift , who gave a presentation at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Show . When I asked Steve, who has sailed extensively on both multihulls and monohulls, what type of boat he preferred, he said, quite seriously. Well, at the end of the day, the best cruising boat is the one that you are on.

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Interesting list. I am fond of Hylas of which you chose three models. However, I am suspect of their yard and construction techniques and do not have confidence that they are as strong as they are beautiful. Only one Hallberg-Rassy was selected, which is a far more robust and dry sailing boat than the Hylas. Passports make a good boat as does Cape Dory and several others on your list. Didn’t four sailors die on a Beneteau in 2018? Over all it is a decent list.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/04/25/last-pictures-doomed-yacht-cheeki-rafiki-sank-killing-four-british-sailors-7497805/

I believe this is the accident you’re talking about in which a Beneteau and it’s bolted on keel parted company.

Almost all of the sailing clubs in San Diego rent Beneteaus out. They are a decent coastal sailboat. I have a couple friends who have even made the crossing to Maui in them..not me, not ever. I consider them a living room boat. Having said that, I am certainly no expert so its just my opinion. If I am crossing an ocean I want a capable kindly strong boat with redundancy built into critical systems.

Curious to think what people think about the early 70s Swan 43 as a cruising boat for a couple with occasional guests for a round the world trip? I have an S&S 30 which is too small but I do have some bias towards their designs. Add a watermaker and some power generation and off you go… Any thoughts?

Are Motor Sailors like the Nauticats or Fishers ocean worthy ( if their pilot house windows and sliding doors are lifeboatified ? )

Walt Schulz’s Shannon 43 is a beautiful, sea kindly, comfortable and sturdy bluewater boat. Walt had not only the ICW and Bahamas in mind when he designed and built 52 of them. He designed for ocean cruising. He believes his boats should outlive him and still sailing for generations. We sailed the Chesapeake, Bahamas, Caribbean and Pacific to Australia on a Shannon 43 ketch. She took great care of us and is still turning heads.

Great article! John Kretchmer is one of my fave modern day sailors. While there is only one Crealock design on John’s list, and the Dana is added on John Neale’s list, I was surprised not to see a Crealock/ Pacific Seacraft 37 mentioned. But there are so many great serious off shore boats, it’s hard to narrow it down to 10. Here’s a few to think about. Cape George Cutter 36. Biscay 36, tradewind 35, Rustler 36, Nicholson 31 (never talked about) and 32. Seldom seen on top 10 lists, but great boats. Thanks for the article.

Great comment and interesting to note that the first four of your additions are those currently entered in the 2022 Golden Globe Race – kind of the definition of a blue water boat.

Hey! I know this is somewhat off-topic however I needed to ask. Does operating a well-established blog like yours take a massive amount work? I am completely new to writing a blog but I do write in my journal everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any kind of recommendations or tips for new aspiring blog owners. Thankyou!|

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1974 Mason 33' Steel Ketch

• Description

Seller's Description

“Astragale” is a Mason 33s Ketch, Professionally built in 1974 by Paul Mailloux of Mailloux Leclerc shipyard in le-aux-Coudres, Charlevoix QC, using mild steel. Deck and hull plates are 1/8 of an inch, keel plates are 3/16 of an inch. She is a Canadian Registered Vessel with an assigned MMIS and is ready to take you anywhere you wish to go.
 In 2005 the boat interior was stripped and a complete sandblasting was completed inside, followed by epoxy coatings of Devoe Bar-rust 235 and proper insulation. The lead bricks where removed from the keel and recoated with Devoe Pre-prime 167 and Bar-rust 235. The lead ballast bricks were put back in the keel and sealed in place. Lower bilge sections were topped with International Bilgekote. A dog house was added, of 1/8 inch plate, creating an inside watch area with a collapsible seat. Portholes are made of 3/8 Lexan.
 The outside hull was sandblasted and epoxy coated with Sherwin Williams Dura-Plate 235, followed with International Micron CSC ablative antifouling. Deck and freeboard received a new two components polyurethane acrylic Sherwin Williams Acrolon 218HS. Freeboard and deck were recoated in 2016.

Equipment: Make: Yanmar Model: 3YM Fuel: Diesel Engine Power: 29hp Hours: 350 Type: Inboard Year: Purchased 2009 but not installed until 2014.

There is a 2021 Marine Survey available to serious buyers.

Interior layout was rebuilt with respect to the original plan by professional cabinet makers. Flooring uses balau hardwood, lower cabinetry is made of marine mahogany plywood and hardwood, partitions and the upper cabinetry is beech wood. Roof and wall covering is grooved and painted lauan. The yacht sleeps four (4).

Seating and bedding foam were custom made in 2014 with memory foam on top for the cabin; off white curtains; raspberry red fabric upholstery; painted and grooved headliner; hardwood cabin sole; beechwood and mahogany cabinetry.

The Lavac Manual head has a 50 litre holding tank with Y-valves, allowing direct overboard discharge, manual holding tank pump out, or vacuum out.

The galley is equipped with a single stainless steel sink, top load icebox and an Origo alcohol stove. There is a 240 litre capacity stainless steel water tank, a fresh water foot pump and a salt water hand pump. The Dickinson/Bristol diesel fuel stove heater has its own fuel tank which can be filled from the main fuel tank, as can the 40 litre day fuel tank for the engine. The main fuel tank is located beneath the floor and is about 100 litres.

The Yanmar 3YM 29hp inboard diesel engine was purchased in 2009 (stored inside) but was not installed until 2014 with new diesel hoses and exhaust, water filter, oil filter, fuel filters and control panel; fixed propeller; oil/water/temp alarm; raw water filter; bilge blower; fume detector and CO detector.

The electrical system is maintained through the charging of 3 AGM 12 volt batteries, by an alternator via a 12 volt electrical panel with circuit breakers. There is a 350 watt Pure sine wave inverter and two 200w solar panels connected with a MPPT EP solar/tracer 20A. There is a volts/amps digital meter microblog, a Blue Sea ML-ACR automatic charging relay and a switch at helm for emergency start. There is also a 15w solar panel for winter battery maintenance. Ground tackle: Main anchor Rockna with 200 of chain, standby Danforth with 100 chain/100 rope. A second Danforth with 200 of rope. Electronics: Standard Horizon VHF - Matrix AIS GX 2150 plus a RAM 3 remote at helm. AIS targets are displayed on RAM mike, radio display panel and integrated into the GPS plotters. Lowrance HDS7 Generation 2 Plotter at helm complete with Lowrance Broadband 36 Radar and Lowrance Dual Frequency Depthsounder. A second Lowrance HDS5 Generation 2 Plotter located inside includes C-Map NS to NL and C-Map Canada North/East. Autohelm ST4000 autopilot and a Sailomat wind steering system. Compass at helm. 
Pioneer CD stereo w/speakers.M

Sails and Rigging Two aluminum masts & booms; stainless steel standing rigging; masts stepped on deck; head swivel furling; 2 x Barient 2-speed self tailing Genoa sheet winches; 2 x Gibb 2-speed mizzen asymmetric sheet winches; 3 x Gibb 2-speed main, mizzen, Genoa halyard winches; 1 x Gibb 1-speed main reefing winch; three winch handles; Genoa gear; spinnaker gear & pole; topping lift; sheets; flag halyard; double mainsheet blocks; removable inner baby forestay ( small storm jib).

Sail inventory includes:
Mainsail
Mizzen
Genoa
Jib
Asymmetric Spinnaker


Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

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