Best Grand-Prix One-Design

Photos by Walter Cooper

The MC38 One Design is a complete, modern grand-prix package, swimming in carbon and composites, and designed to do nothing else but tear around the cans at high-speed. As an excellent build out of McConaghy’s Chinese operation, the MC38, is presented as the upgrade for Farr 40 owners seeking a more contemporary design, and as a more substantial boat for Melges 32 owners that don’t have the athleticism for such a boat. Onboard, the MC38 feels like a lot more boat than either—it’s nearly 12 feet at maximum beam. With a flat deck and an open, uncluttered cockpit, a racing crew can just flow from rail to rail, as quickly as the boat goes into and out of tacks.

There’s a long list of engineering details that may not be immediately obvious says its designer, Harry Dunning, and these are details (such as the deck framing and sprit’s butt-end support) that they carefully engineered to save weight but deliver stiffness. With composite rigging, high-end ropes, a functioning string-take down system for the spinnaker, mast jack, and lots more, the boat is sorted for high-end racing. Developing fleets in Australia, Europe, and Asia are already enjoying close racing.

Read more about the MC 38 One Design here.