Overview
The Alden 44 is a Niels Helleberg design for Alden Yachts, built with Tillotson Pearson from 1976 to 1991, with 40 completed. It was drawn for IOR racing with cruising accommodation, and soon built a reputation for bluewater racing and passagemaking.
Design and Construction
It has a fixed stub keel with a retractable centerboard and a skeg-hung rudder. sailboatdata.com lists 44.16 ft overall on a 34.08 ft waterline, 12.5 ft of beam, and a draft of 4.92 ft with the board up and 8.75 ft with it down. Displacement is 24,500 lb with 10,000 lb of ballast. The cutter carries about 871 sq ft; for racing the boom-mounted staysail comes off and it sails as a masthead sloop, and a taller rig was offered. A later masthead sloop version, the Alden 44 MII, was drawn by Alden Yachts and introduced in 1981. Typical accommodation sleeps seven: a double V-berth forward, an L-shaped settee with a drop-leaf table and a straight settee, a pilot berth in the main cabin and an aft cabin with two berths. The galley has a three-burner propane stove and oven, a 6 cubic foot refrigerator and a 4 cubic foot freezer.
Ocean Racing Record
Checkmate (Frank J Flores, Jr) finished the Newport Bermuda Race (2008). Nostos (Lorenzo D. Weisman) finished the Newport Bermuda Race (2006, 2008). Ariel finished the Marion-Bermuda Race in 2005 and 2009. Pilgrim finished the Marion-Bermuda Race in 2005. Sandpiper finished the Marion-Bermuda Race in 2025.
Buyers Notes
John Neal rates it 3 of 5: classy, well built and beautiful, though teak decks on older boats may need work (see Known Issues). Inspect the centerboard, its pennant and the trunk. Richard Sherwood wrote in 1994 that the 44 is designed for IOR competition but has many cruising amenities, and that it remains one of the prettiest sailboats in any harbor. Soundings reviewer Steve Knauth noted in 2014 that the boat could handle a crew of seven, enough for a Bermuda Race.
