Easily Handled, the Caliber 40 Can Go the Distance

I recently spoke with a woman who wanted recommendations on manageable, mid-sized, used boats that she and her husband could take cruising to Mexico.

Their kids are grown, and with the exception of having the occasional guest onboard, they were looking for a good couples boat that would also be a strong, reliable platform for local cruising.

These are some broad parameters, so many boats came to mind – and one is the versatile Caliber 40, a boat I would not hesitate to outfit and take down the coast or even on a bluewater adventure.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

There are two Caliber 40 models available on the used-boat market, the Caliber 40 and the Caliber 40 LRC (Long Range Cruiser), which I will discuss as one basic design with some key differences.

The McCreary brothers, now based in Clearwater, Florida, started the company as a garage boat builder in 1979. The first Caliber, a 28, debuted in 1981. During the 1980s, the McCrearys developed a full line of cruising boats, and in 1991, the Caliber 40 made the scene, with the LRC version still manufactured today.

The design is an attractive cutter with a bowsprit and a bobstay that keep the ground tackle well away from the bow during anchoring. The boat has a straight sheer and a reverse transom with a small but handy swim step and a boarding ladder. There's also a fully encapsulated, elongated fin keel that has an iron and concrete ballast of 9,500 pounds. The 40's ballast-to-displacement ratio is 44 percent, which is good to find on a boat intended for bluewater use. The rudder is skeg hung for protection and tracking, and the waterline length is just over 32 feet.

Both boats are constructed of fiberglass, with sold hulls and plywood-cored decks. The Caliber Yachts marketing team named and trademarked every step of the design and construction process, including steps that are basically conventional boat-building procedures. The way the deck is bonded, for example, is referred to as the Quad-Seal Deck to Hull System. Well done, it's a combination of through-bolting, 3M 5200, copolymer tape and good placement of the rubrail and the aluminum toerail. The Integral Strength-Grid System refers to the bonding of the fuel and water tanks to the structure of the hull, which not only creates a double-bottom effect, but also strengthens the boat and helps spread the loads evenly over the hull. With the exception of the heads, no liners or molded pans are used in the construction, and the result is a fairly stiff boat.

Meanwhile, Reinforced Impact Zones at the forward waterline and the forward edge of the keel involve extra layers of fiberglass applied to spots that are likely to suffer damage on impact with floating or submerged debris. There is also a watertight bulkhead in the bow.

PERFORMANCE AND RIGGING

The design is a moderately heavy, displacement cruising boat, so it takes a bit of wind to get it going. However, like most cruising boats of this class, sailing at 5 to 5½ knots in 10 to 12 knots of wind on a beam reach is not bad and can provide 140-mile-plus days in the tradewinds. Although the sheeting angles have been tightened as the tracks have been brought inboard, sailing to within 60 degrees of the apparent wind can be expected. The boat will kick around in heavy seas, but no more than other cruising boats, and it will remain fairly comfortable in big waves as well as big winds.

Should owners need to tap the engine, a standard 50-horsepower Yanmar, the boat can travel at about 6 knots at a 2000-rpm cruising speed, or 7 knots at the 3000 rpm maximum. Since the LRCs have higher fuel capacity (see specifications), they're said to have a range of 1,484 miles. By contrast, the tankage of the Caliber 40s, which were mostly manufactured in the early and mid-1990s, varied from 46 to 80 gallons, so their range will also vary. Many owners added or modified tanks as well, so a safe calculation would be burning 1 gallon per hour at about 6 knots. Therefore, a 46-gallon tank would allow a range of about 276 miles.

For a bluewater boat, the cleats and chocks could be larger, and the standard #48 Lewmar primaries seem to be undersized as well. The anchor locker forward is accessible via the deck and is conveniently divided.

The single-spreader, keel-stepped rig is easily managed by a couple or single-handedly. The inner forestay can be removed and secured at the deck near the mast, or it can accommodate a roller-furling staysail that, along with the running backstays, will be useful in a big blow. The main is fully battened with two deep reefs, the rigid boom vang is standard, and all lines are lead aft, so a short-handed crew can raise and lower the sails and reef from the T-shaped cockpit. Chainplates are connected to the deck and through-bolted to the bulkheads, and access to them is quite good down below.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Speaking of down below, the Caliber 40 is a modern, two-cabin design with 6 feet, 2 inches of headroom and hand-rubbed teak throughout. The interior layout resembles that of the Passport 40, starting with a spacious head and separate stall shower forward. Continuing aft, the master stateroom has a Pullman-style, offset double with lockers and plenty of storage. There's good storage beneath the saloon settees as well: a 6 foot, 2 inch, L-shaped settee to port that converts to a double berth, and a straight settee to starboard. A dinette table that folds down from the bulkhead unites those settees to seat six comfortably for dinner. While a second head is accessible from the saloon or aft cabin, it's quite small.

Because the galley – with a double sink, a two-burner stove and oven, and a top-loading refrigerator – is next to the nav station, some owners have installed a Lexan divider between the two to protect the station from whatever may splash around on the stove. Another problem: Tall boaters will have trouble finding a place for their legs or using the nav station for extended periods of time. At 5 feet, 5 inches, I found it to be a tight squeeze.

Good light is provided by 14 stainless steel, opening ports designed for offshore work. An additional two vents, six hatches, and two dorades provide good ventilation, too. The rest of the on-deck features are well planned. Roomy and good for entertaining, the cockpit is also deep and safe at sea, with three large drains and high backrests. There are two lazarettes, one for the propane tank and a good-sized, self-draining space for storage. There are also cutouts in the deep coaming sides for extra storage of smaller items or radios. The freshwater shower is perfect for a quick rinse on the swim step.

SYSTEMS

Despite the Caliber being an aft-cockpit boat, access to the standard 50-horsepower Yanmar is not bad. The top step of the companionway ladder opens easily to let you reach the top of the engine and quickly check the belts, oil and coolant. The entire companionway box may be removed for access to the Racor, the raw-water strainer and the full front of the engine. Additional access is via a side compartment in the aft cabin.

Batteries on the Caliber are far aft and behind the engine, and access, mostly via the lazarette or the aft cabin, is not great. A periodic water check on the standard lead-acid cells would probably end up being put off due to the inconvenience, and this could lead to problems. It would therefore behoove an owner to invest in gel cells or other maintenance-free batteries.

Tankage on these boats is where some of the key differences, strengths and problems lie. The Caliber 40 LRC was introduced in 1994, and the primary change was the substantially increased fuel capacity. Caliber realized that a passagemaker with just 46 gallons of fuel, as the regular 40 model featured, would rely constantly on favorable wind conditions, so it added another 160 gallons or so. The two fuel tanks and two water tanks, all aluminum, are on centerline beneath the cabin sole, and both have separate delivery systems, which are well thought out in case there is contamination of either water or fuel.

Problems have been reported with the holding tank, however. The early boats carried a 110-gallon holding tank, integral to the boat and under the anchor locker. When combined with ground tackle and chain, this makes for a tremendous amount of weight forward and an alarming amount of sewage to carry on a boat of this size. The holding tank served the aft head as well, which left long hoses under the cabin sole to potentially clog.

The holding tank formed the watertight bulkhead mentioned earlier, and it was glassed to both the deck and the hull at the bow. The screens in the tank vents clogged easily if they were not cleaned regularly, and several owners reported creating suction and a vacuum as they pumped the head – one so serious, it caused a messy delamination of the hull. These screens were also used on the water tanks, which could leave a water pump running dry as it operated against a vacuum in the tank. Be sure to inspect the hull around the holding tank when considering a 40 or 40 LRC, and check all the screens. You may be able to contact Caliber Yachts for replacements or information on the construction of a particular model year.

Caliber 40 LRCs are still built in Florida today, encompassing the same basic design but having benefited from owner and dealer feedback. There's also a rich stock of used boats. With some clever ideas on carrying extra fuel, the Caliber 40 provides a lot of value for a couple looking for that strong, seaworthy and easily sailed boat to take them to paradise.

Zuzana Prochazka is a freelance writer who additionally serves as Technical Editor for Seafaring Magazine and co-hosts Latitudes & Attitudes TV.

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