Overview
The Cherubini 44 is a John Cherubini ketch, drawn in 1971 and first completed in 1977, with lines influenced by L. Francis Herreshoff. About 35 were built in the original series, and a Mk II followed in 2007.
Design and Construction
sailboatdata.com lists 44 ft on deck (about 50 ft overall with the bowsprit) on a long 40 ft waterline, 12 ft of beam, and a keel with centerboard drawing 4.83 ft up and 8.83 ft down. Displacement is 28,000 lb with 12,000 lb of ballast, and the staysail ketch carries about 1,133 sq ft. Early boats have decks of two layers of plywood with mahogany cabin sides; the Mk II has a foam-cored composite deck. Before the Mk II only the hull and cockpit were fiberglass; the cabin top was three layers of quarter-inch marine plywood and the cabin sides were solid mahogany, either cold-molded or sealed with epoxy. SpinSheet’s surveyor says Cherubini offered a lifetime hull warranty. Cruising World describes the Mk II hull, hull number 34 and built of hand-laid vinyl-epoxy, as 10 percent lighter than the 6,000-pound polyester hulls, with almost 600 pounds moved into ballast. Its deck is plywood overlaid with E-glass, vacuum bagged and infused with epoxy, with G-10 bolsters under deck hardware, and it bolts to a massive sheer clamp integral to the hull. Cherubini estimated about 10,000 labor hours for earlier boats and cut 200 pounds and 1,500 hours from the next one with a Corecell foam deck.
Under Sail
SpinSheet calls its performance impressive for a moderate-displacement boat with a long waterline, but warns the low freeboard can mean a wet ride in rough water. The mizzen is stepped in the forward cockpit, which crowds it. SpinSheet reports that a Cherubini 44 once beat Running Tide in a Fort Lauderdale to Key West SORC race and took first in the 2007 Marion-Bermuda race, both on corrected time. Cruising World’s Tim Murphy sailed the Mk II Elysium on the Chesapeake in squalls from zero to 30 knots, found her motion all forward-driving speed in the bay chop while other boats pitched, and noted that the 1,100 square feet of sail keeps her moving in all but the lightest air. SpinSheet adds that the double-headsail ketch rig allows many sail combinations to balance the boat.
Ocean Racing Record
Silhouette (David M. Caso) finished the Newport Bermuda Race (2006).
Buyers Notes
John Neal rates it 3 of 5: semi-custom, gorgeous, great sailing and expensive, with limited interior space. SpinSheet notes that early boats with engines under 50 hp were underpowered, and many have been repowered. Most 44s were built semi-custom, so each interior differs slightly within the same general arrangement: aft cabin and navigation area, a starboard head with shower, a U-shaped galley to port, a saloon with settees and a drop-leaf table, and a forward cabin with a V-berth. With under 12 ft of beam there is no room for queen berths. Cruising World lists water capacity of 135 or 200 gallons on the Mk II, and says its engine, tanks and other machinery can be removed through the hatches.
