CWS stands for ‘central winch system’ – all control lines are led to a central winch pedestal in the cockpit, for easy short-handed sailing. The 39CWS uses the hull of the old 38 (see last month’s issue), but with the IOR racer-inspired bumps, lumps, dips and distortions ironed out. Despite her name, she measures just 37ft 10in on deck. Her self-tacking rig and central winch make her very easy to handle, yet performance is good. The jib is not designed to be reefed. Instead, in winds over 30 knots, she is usually sailed under mainsail only. She is rewarding to helm, easily balanced under sail and very directionally stable, capable of steering herself for prolonged
periods. She has two aft cabins – one of which includes the chart table! The bulkhead between them can be removed to make one enormous cabin. The saloon dinette is perhaps a tad too wide for bracing in a seaway, and faces a large, well- equipped galley.

Headroom, at 1.9m (6ft 2in), is not generous.
LOA 12.1m (39ft 7in) LWL 9.6m (31ft 6in) Beam 3.8m (12ft 6in)
Draught 1.9m (6ft 3in) Displacement 5,900kg (12,994lb)
YM test report August 1991 Class association www.dehlerowners.co.uk