Overview
The Pearson 385 is a Bill Shaw center-cockpit cruiser from 1984. Pearson built it alongside the aft-cockpit 386 on the same hull. Neal singles out its use of space. Cruising World reports the 385 and 386 were built between 1984 and 1992, with fewer than 45 Pearson 385s built. The standard rig was a sloop, with a cutter rig offered as an option.
Design and Construction
The underbody is a fin keel with a skeg-hung rudder, with a shoal fin of 5 ft 6 in; many 385s have centerboards instead. The interior is teak with a teak-and-holly sole. The three-cabin, two-head layout has a V-berth guest cabin with its own head, and an aft cabin with an athwartships double, a head and a shower stall, separated from the guests by the saloon, galley and engine compartment. The listed tankage is 170 gallons of water and 45 gallons of fuel, with a 42-hp diesel. Seven deck hatches and 16 opening ports provide ventilation.
Under Sail
Cruising World’s owner found her comfortable and fairly dry, with an easy motion in a chop from her ample displacement, making 7 to 8 knots in about 20 knots of wind with the apparent wind at 30 to 40 degrees. She does not point well, which he blamed partly on an in-mast furling main and a mainsheet without a traveler.
Buyers Notes
The reviewed boat needed a major refit: electrics, standing and running rigging, windlass and rebedded deck gear, and its chainplates came out in pieces after a lower shroud failed. Inspect the chainplates on any older 385.
