The Caliber 35 carries its beam well aft, providing a spacious interior. The U-shaped galley is on the portside of the bright saloon.

          Peter and Ann Dawson had recently taken delivery of hull number 77 and were in a whirlwind of activity preparing the boat for our midmorning outing. "I don’t want to sound like an advertisement for George," Ann explained while stashing gear down below, "but this boat sure has a lot of storage." I helped Peter hank on the 110 percent starcut genoa and remembered that its’ still possible to sail without a foil or roller furling headsail.
          The 35 has a versatile rig. Basically she’s a relatively high aspect masthead sloop with 563 square feet of working sail area. However, a retractable inner forestay, which incorporates a sliding track on the mast and a quick release on deck, changes the Caliber into a cutter and with a track just forward of the mast, the staysail is self-tending. And when the wind pipes up, the headsail can be doused or furled, leaving the staysail to carry the load as things turn nasty.
          "I can never back this boat straight," Peter warned me before we cast off the lines. Of course, he backed the boat beautifully for at least 100 yards The anchor platform has space for two anchors.
drop-in storage bin, there is plenty of storage but not much free counter space left, but the trade-off is probably a good one. Across from the galley is the navigation station, utilizing the foot of the quarterberth for a seat. The large quarterberth has folding doors that close it off into a private cabin. At first, this arrangement struck me as a bit awkward, but the more I thought about it, the option of having two private staterooms in 35 feet seemed pretty clever. The interior is generously finished in teak and the joinery work is excellent.
          A three-cylinder 27 hp Yanmar diesel provides plenty of power and excellent economy. I’m sure a larger engine could have been squeezed onto the space beneath the companionway, but the Yanmar is more than adequate, and there is plenty of space for easy maintenance and repair work.
          There was just enough of a northeast breeze on Tampa Bay to get a good feel for this handsome sloop.

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