Overview
The Pearson 40, introduced in 1979, was William H. Shaw’s deliberate departure from Pearson’s more traditional cruising line, a flush-deck, balsa-cored centerboard design built for speed without abandoning offshore capability. Period sources compared it directly to contemporaries like the Ericson 39 and Tartan 41. Only 71 hulls were built before production ended in 1981.
Design and Construction
At 22,800 lb displacement with a notably high 54 percent ballast ratio, the boat carries a centerboard that swings from 4.25 ft up to 9.42 ft down, giving real range between shoal-water access and offshore stability and pointing ability. The masthead sloop rig and flush deck reflect the boat’s racier brief relative to Pearson’s other 1970s designs.
Under Sail
Moretoise, a Pearson 40 sailed by Dennis Ronk, completed the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii twice in the doublehanded division, finishing 8th in 1996 and 6th in 1998.
Buyers Notes
Given the centerboard mechanism and the boat’s relatively high ballast ratio for its era, a survey should specifically check the centerboard trunk, pendant, and pivot for wear or corrosion, along with the usual balsa-core deck concerns common to boats of this construction and age.
