In harbours, rivers and estuaries around the country, thousands of cruising yachts are under-used. They head out on a Friday night or Saturday morning, sail around the bay or a few miles along the coast, spend a night or two at anchor and return home.

That can be fun, for sure: no one’s saying that you have to cover great distances to enjoy being aboard a boat or justify owning one.

A bit of sailing, good food (and company if you’re so inclined), perhaps a swim or two and a couple of nights in a quiet anchorage is perfect for stress-free unwinding.

But here’s the question: if that’s what you use your boat for, is a fully-blown offshore cruiser the best boat for the job?

The answer in many cases is no, it’s not.

On the other hand, people often like the speed, comfort and reassurance that come from a reasonable size: a 22-footer is too small and twitchy for them and
unable to offer the steadiness and mile-swallowing ability of a boat 10ft longer.

The long, deep cockpit has high coamings and provides plenty of comfortable seating positions whether you choose to sit in or out. Credit: David Harding

Neither will a big day-sailer appeal if you want to sleep in a proper cabin, brew up a cuppa and have a loo that flushes.

What’s needed, you might argue, is a dedicated weekender: something of, say, 28-35ft (8.5-10.7m).

It should be fast, fun, capable and easy to handle under sail, with an inboard engine and comfortable accommodation for a couple and maybe a friend for a night or two.

It doesn’t need stacks of berths, volume and stowage, a gigantic aft cabin and all the features that people tend to look for in a family cruiser.

Sail plan of the Rustler 33

It should be slim and elegant; the epitome of stylish minimalism for the owner who wants a beautiful boat for the simple pleasure of sailing.

That’s exactly the formula that Rustler Yachts came up with for their Rustler 33.

Inspired by the success of their 24ft (7.3m) day-sailer, they drew up a one-page list of must-haves for a weekender that would make no pretence at being anything else.

Then they gave the design brief to Stephen Jones, the man responsible for Rustler’s 42, 44, 37 and 58 as well as the Mystery 35, built at Cornish Crabbers.

Rustler 33: Slim and slippery

Like the Mystery, the Rustler 33 – whose hull is actually 34ft (10.36m) long – has an elegant spoon bow running smoothly into a moderately rockered canoe body that’s drawn out into a long counter stern.

In a barely detectable nod to modern practice, the stern sections are broader than on an equivalent of half a century ago but they do nothing to compromise the lines.

With a beam of just 8ft (2.44m) the hull is narrow by modern standards and this contributes to the displacement of less than 6,000lb (2,700kg). Of this, 2,500lb (1,134kg) is in the all-lead, bulbed fin keel that gives a draught of 5ft 6in (1.68m).

That’s not a lot in comparison with a typical sporty cruiser of a similar length, because such a slim hull doesn’t need enormous draught.

Everything has been done to not detract from the yacht’s lines – like the cleats which pop-out. Credit: David Harding

Although the high ultimate stability will balance a good spread of sail, neither does such a light and slippery hull need a massive rig: the main and minimal-overlap headsail comes to 480sq ft (44.75sq m).

For number-crunchers, that gives a sail area/displacement ratio of 23.22. The displacement/length ratio of 235 doesn’t sound dreadfully sporty, but that’s because the waterline length is just 22ft 6in (6.85m): it gets a lot longer as soon as the stern overhang becomes immersed.

A more important factor in the case of the Rustler 33 is the sail area/wetted area ratio.

Simple and civilised is the theme below decks. The berth in the bow is bigger than that in most aft cabins. Credit: David Harding

This is rarely listed because of the complexity involved in calculating wetted area, but it’s clear from the briefest of glances at the Rustler that there’s not a lot of her to stick to the water.

In technical terms, then, there’s little to stop this boat.

She should be swift and stable, responsive and well-mannered, and with a comfortable motion (there’s a ratio to work that out, as well).

Aesthetically, I would defy anyone to say she’s not absolutely gorgeous.

Her graceful lines aren’t spoiled by bolt-ons: it would be sacrilege to fit a ‘fence’ (as owners of classic, low-freeboard yachts refer to guardwires) and the cleats forward and aft are of the pop-up variety, as is the nav light on the bow.

Even the jib’s furling line runs beneath the deck to the port cockpit locker.

Simple sailing on the Rustler 33

Given the pedigree of the designer and builder, and having looked at the drawings, I had no doubts about how the Rustler 33 would sail – and my expectations were borne out during my two outings.

The first was a quick spin from Lymington, and the second was a longer outing in her home waters off Falmouth.

On both occasions, we had moderate offshore breezes and relatively flat water.

The most remarkable aspect of this boat is how easy she is to sail.

Deck plan of the Rustler 33

Slim hulls like this naturally want to go in a straight line, even when pressed.

They don’t bounce and slam like some beamy, flat-sectioned alternatives and they go where you point them.

Off Falmouth, we clocked an easy 5.6 knots hard on the wind once the breeze picked up to 15-18 knots.

We quickly accelerated to more than 7 knots by footing off a few degrees, but her pointing ability is impressive: by the compass, we tacked through less than 75°.

Looking for something to pace ourselves against we came across a reasonably well-sailed mainstream modern cruiser of a similar length and we utterly destroyed it: starting about 50 yards to leeward, we worked our way the same distance upwind and pulled another 50 years ahead over a distance of less than a mile.

I suspect that is going to be a hard boat to match on windward legs.

Offwind we popped the asymmetric spinnaker, tacked to the sternhead and steamed along at nigh on 9 knots, sadly without the chance to surf properly.

Even in these conditions, we could reach up until the apparent wind was on the beam before the rudder let go.

Comfort plus

Unlike some of the Continental competition, the Rustler 33 has a deep, comfortable cockpit with high coamings.

A drag-lin places the tiller on the aft deck, abaft the rudder stock; otherwise, the helmsman would need to sit right forward.

Four people isn’t a crush and six sizeable chaps were squeezed in on one occasion.

A traveller could be added and, in a similar vein, I’d like to see what difference barber-haulers would make to the headsail.

Galley and navigation facilities are basic, but adequate for weekending. Credit: David Harding

Unusually, the backstay is a 2:1 purchase that runs down the mast, to avoid clutter and water ingress in the stern.

A Nanni 14hp diesel engine sits beneath the bridgedeck, driving a two-bladed folding prop via a saildrive.

The front is reached from the cabin, where there’s a heads compartment to port complete with ample wet-hanging space, a compact galley to starboard that can be boxed in for use as a chart table, settee berths each side and a vast double in the bow.

Apart from the heads, there are no mouldings, and the joinery, though less ornate than on larger models, is to Rustler’s usual high standard.

Verdict on the Rustler 33

In many ways, the Rustler 33 is the Morgan of the sailing world: fast, fun, stylish and beautifully built in Britain to her owner’s requirements.

While there’s no reason why she shouldn’t sail a long way, quickly and comfortably, she was conceived as a no-compromise weekender – and that’s a role she fulfils to perfection.

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