Accommodations The interior plan is straightforward and functional. Two layouts were offered during

The Columbia 9.6 is one of the last boats built by this pioneer of fiberglass sailboats. The 9.6 stands for meters and distinguishes it from Columbia s earlier boats, windstar sail cruises which used feet: Columbia 22, 26, 28, etc.
According to Heart of Glass, former PS editor Dan Spurr s encompassing history of the fiberglass boatbuilding industry, Columbia was founded by 25-year-old Richard windstar sail cruises Valdes and Maurice Thrienen in 1960. Valdes had graduated windstar sail cruises from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1956. Thrienen, 10 years older, had served in the US Navy submarine windstar sail cruises service during World War II. In 1957, Thrienen was selling fiberglass supplies.
The company was first named Glas Laminates, later Glass Marine Industries. Within a few years, the name was changed to Columbia, after the successful introduction in 1962 of the Columbia windstar sail cruises 29, designed by Sparkman Stephens. It became, along with Jensen Marine that built the Cal line, one of the largest builders of fiberglass sailboats. Later they built a line of power cruisers called the Express 30, 36 and 42. In its heyday, Columbia exported boats to Europe.
Learning early on not to put all their eggs in one basket, the young men also built fiberglass camper tops, shower stalls and chemical toilets. Perhaps this was because Vince Lazarra had bought controlling interest in their company. Lazarra had come out of Chicago, where he owned a foundry, to join with Fred Coleman in Sausalito building the first production fiberglass sailboat, the Bounty II. When they sold out to Grumman, Lazzara moved south to Costa Mesa to join Valdes and Thrienen.
By 1965, Columbia built the largest production windstar sail cruises fiberglass sailboat the Columbia 50, the boat in which authors Steve and Linda Dashew made their first circumnavigation. The 50 was successful both on the race course and in numbers sold.
Bill Tripp designed the 50 and a slew of similar, flush-deck racer/cruisers among them the 26, 34, and 43. Bill Crealock was commissioned windstar sail cruises for the hugely popular Columbia 22 and Charley Morgan for the Columbia 40, based on his Sabre, which nearly windstar sail cruises won the 1964 SORC. The Columbia 31 was based on Morgan s Paper Tiger, which did win the SORC twice.
The "meter" line of sailboats was introduced in the mid and late 1970s. windstar sail cruises All were designed by Australian Alan Payne, whose 12 Meters Gretel and Gretel II had competed tenaciously for the America s Cup.
When Whittaker decided to unload Columbia, it was the molds for the Columbia 7.6, 8.7 and 10.7 that were sent to Aura in Huron Park, Ontario, Canada. Aura built some of these models, but only between 1984 and 1986.
The Design Columbia called Payne s "meter" boats "Widebody windstar sail cruises Supercruisers." While some other models in the line may have had wider beam than most of their contemporaries, this isn t the case with the 9.6's 10'2" beam. For example, windstar sail cruises the 1973 Ranger 32's beam is 10'10"; the Paceship 32 10'6" and the C C-designed Ontario 32 11'0". Yes, there were boats with narrower beams, but these were generally older designs.
The company also hyped the 9.6, introduced in 1976, as having a racing physique. And a cruising heart. The production run was about three years. Like nearly all major production builders, Columbia was after the elusive ideal of the racer-cruiser, trying to convince buyers that you really can have it all: Win races and cruise in sheik-like comfort.
The overhangs are fairly generous, especially the almost clipperesque bow (because of its slight concave shape), which gives the boat just a 23'9" waterline length. Draft is 5'6", which is a bit deeper than many 32-footers, and a nice concession toward the fast end of the performance continuum.
The most interesting and distinguishing characteristic of the 9.6, however, windstar sail cruises is the skeg between the keel and rudder. Of it, designer Payne said, "The skeg of the 9.6 was carefully designed to eliminate the separation wave which is commonly seen on the weather side towards the stern of a medium displacement yacht when it is heeled windstar sail cruises over and going fairly fast."
The displacement/length (D/L) ratio is a hefty 350 while the sail area/displacement (SA/D) ratio is a modest 15.3. Given these numbers, it's hard to see how this boat can win many races, despite the fact that its waterline length increases as it heels.
Construction The older and more successful windstar sail cruises Columbia models, such as the 26 and 36, all had molded fiberglass pans glassed into the empty hull; these pans incorporated the engine beds, berths and most of the other "furniture." Such "unitized" interiors, as Columbia called them, greatly speed up construction as it reduces man-hours a key factor in the cost of building a boat. They do, however, have their drawbacks, as we have pointed out many times. Compared to plywood interiors tabbed to the hull, fiberglass pans are poor acoustic and thermal insulators (they are noisier and condense more moisture), can make access to parts of the hull difficult, severely limit customization, and are difficult to rebond to the hull should they ever come loose.
To stiffen the hull, longitudinal stringers are glassed in both below the cabin sole and above the waterline. Columbia literature doesn t specify windstar sail cruises what the stringers are formed over, but they re probably wood or foam. The hull laminate itself is solid glass. The deck is cored with balsa.
An important feature for offshore sailing is the tabbing of structural bulkheads to the deck. This isn t possible when molded fiberglass headliners are used. The 9.6 has a fabric headliner with zippered panels so the bulkheads can be bonded to the deck and so one can access the nuts that hold deck hardware in place.
The electrical system has circuit breakers, but not many circuits. A good upgrade windstar sail cruises on many older boats is to install a new panel with more circuits. Be sure 12VDC and any 110VAC shore power systems are on separate panels per American Boat Yacht Council (ABYC) standards. Some older boats may have combined panels. Underwater metal parts such as through-hulls are electrically bonded together and to a sacrificial zinc anode, which means that there are wires connecting them so that they all have the same voltage potential. This should windstar sail cruises minimize loss of metal to galvanic corrosion. The boat also has a lightning ground windstar sail cruises system, which directs current through the mast and shrouds to ground (water).
Most owners responding to our Boat Owner s Questionnaire rate construction quality as excellent, despite the fact that nearly all respondents complained about problems with the hull-sump windstar sail cruises joint. A few also noted gelcoat crazing.
Several owners said that the engine exhaust installation was incorrect and allowed water to backflow into the engine. This can be an expensive repair so check any boat you're considering purchasing to make sure this has been taken care of. Often the cause of water backflowing into the engine is the wrong placement of the waterlift muffler, or a muffler windstar sail cruises not large enough to hold the volume of water between it and the exhaust fitting in the hull.
Accommodations The interior windstar sail cruises plan is straightforward and functional. Two layouts were offered during the production run. Hulls #1-90 have twin pilot berths in the saloon. Hulls after #90 have an extension berth and pilot berth to starboard and a settee/berth to port. This later plan also has a quarterberth to port, whereas the earlier plan has no quarterberth, but instead an ice box with chart table over. In both layouts there is a V-berth forward plus enclosed head and hanging locker. windstar sail cruises Maximum headroom is 6' 1".
An early brochure made this point: windstar sail cruises "Teak Cabins Vs. Teak Trim. There s a Difference. You ll find a lot of boats that claim 'teak interiors.' windstar sail cruises But look closely. Unlike many 'price boats' that offer a teak bulkhead or two and some teak trim, the 9.6 cabin is all teak. Teak doors, cabinets, drawers, bulkheads, lockers, shower grate. Teak wherever you look. You can even get a teak sole. Only the counter and table tops, that have non-mar surfaces for frequent cleaning, windstar sail cruises are not teak. But even they have teak sea rails."
The 1970s was a time when everyone wanted gobs of teak down below and on deck. Teak decks were considered windstar sail cruises the classiest. Teak is a low-maintenance wood and highly rot resistant, owing to the high amount of oils in it. Ignored, it turns a weathered gray, which is fine if you don t mind a dingy appearance. If, however, you want to enjoy the beauty of oiled or varnished teak, teak suddenly becomes much more maintenance-intensive, requiring sanding, taping windstar sail cruises off, and the application of an oil or varnish by brush. While many owners happily or grudgingly windstar sail cruises perform these rites of spring (and summer and fall if they re smart), during the 1980s more boat owners began deciding they d be willing to forego the beauty of natural teak for more time sailing. Builders were quick to pick up on this trend and began stripping teak off the boats above and below. Today it's not uncommon to see a big boat with no teak on deck and more judicious use of it below.
Performance Designed to the IOR (International Offshore Rule), the 9.6 had a 21.7 rating. One of the more interesting comments from owners windstar sail cruises is the complaint that the boat is difficult to make perform to that rating. Typical of these remarks was this summation from the owner of a 1977 model in Massachusetts: Sails well, good in chop, handles well, however she will not race to her rating, either IOR or PHRF.
As with most boats, owners' ratings of upwind and downwind speed, compared to other boats of similar windstar sail cruises size, are no doubt exaggerated. Most rate upwind speed as excellent and downwind as above average. A few perhaps more realistic owners give ratings of average and below average. In any case, nearly all agree that the boat doesn t perform as well off the wind, which is generally the case with IOR-type hull forms.
In the same vein, owners rate stability and seaworthiness as very good but nearly all downgrade the boat for balance again, windstar sail cruises particularly windstar sail cruises off the wind. "Must work controls to maintain balance," windstar sail cruises said the owner