Overview
The CS 33 is a Raymond Wall design built by CS Yachts (Canadian Sailcraft) in Ontario from 1979 to 1987, with almost 450 completed. Wall drew it as a smaller sister to the CS 36.
Design and Construction
The hull is hand-laid solid laminate, through-bolted to the deck, with bulkheads glassed to both. The keel is a high-aspect bolted lead fin and the rudder is a hollow spade. sailboatdata.com lists 32.67 ft overall on a 26.42 ft waterline, 10.67 ft of beam and 5.8 ft of draft, with 4,250 lb of ballast in a 10,000 lb displacement and about 503 sq ft of sail. The hull-deck joint is sealed with butyl tape between the flanges, which Sturgeon says oozes continually and needs cleaning off each year. The keel is attached through almost two inches of solid fibreglass, and a shallow bilge sump spreads the keel load into the rest of the hull in a grounding. The rudder hangs on a partial skeg, and its lower third is designed to snap off if hit so that steerage is kept; because the hollow rudder fills with water, Sturgeon suggests drilling a drain hole in the fall and plugging it with a screw before launch.
Under Sail
Pat Sturgeon calls it a great all-around performer that points well and, with a 43 percent ballast ratio, stays stiff in heavy weather. He sees it as a performance cruiser rather than a racer. Sturgeon says the low stem angle lets the boat cut through waves without throwing water back into the cockpit, and that the deep-chested forward sections smooth the entry in choppy seas. He also finds the long, deep cockpit with high coamings comfortable and dry.
Buyers Notes
Grounding damage to the floor grid and rudder is the main thing to check (see Known Issues). Sturgeon also notes the baby stay makes the rig hard to tune, and over-tensioning can lift the deck.
Standard tankage is 35 gallons of fresh water, but most buyers chose 70 gallons, with a tank under each settee, and the boat carries a little over 20 gallons of fuel. Only about 15 were built with the quarter berth layout. Sturgeon says the main disappointment is the lack of space below compared with late-1980s designs that carry their beam well aft. For offshore work he suggests adding adjustable, removable running backstays from the spreader roots.
