1974 Fuji 35 Ketch
This classic Fuji Ketch is located in southern Chile. For those who have dreamed of sailing Patagonia, this is your chance! Despite her age she is well maintained, well equipped, and ready to go!
Of the design, here is an excerpt of a review from famed bluewater yacht designer Robert Perry:
By now the Fuji 35 is a very successful stock yacht. Upon her introduction I was quite surprised that there was a market for a yacht with very little of the current stock boat trappings. In fact, the Fuji 35 seemed a little anachronistic. It is, I'm sure, this feature that has brought her to the popularity she is now enjoying.
The John G. Alden office has been known for years for producing fine performing yachts. The Fuji follows in this tradition. She is of a hull form that traces its model back to the well-known Alden schooners. Compared to most of the current production yachts, the Fuji is a bit narrow. I don't think it's narrow, I feel it's about right for good windward performance. While the Fuji won't point like an IOR racing yacht, she will move to weather well, to cruising boat standards.
The sheer and other aesthetic treatments on the hull are done with impeccable taste, and the Fuji doesn't convey the "toy boat" image of some of the other character type designs. In fact, to call the Fuji a character yacht would be wrong. She is a traditional yacht.
The beam on deck is generous. This makes for a very dry boat and has the bonus of affording large side decks and a huge cockpit area. The keel is long but cut away slightly forward to improve maneuverability. There is a slight drag angle to the keel also. This, I think, is also to improve maneuverability. There should be no question as to the Fuji's ability to track or steer herself. The large transom and the minimum overhang of the mizzen boom would be ideal for attaching a self-steering device. The displacement / length ratio of the Fuji 35 is 413. This indicates the Fuji is in the heavy displacement area.
The Fuji is available in two rigs, the standard ketch and optional cutter. Aesthetically both rigs look great on the yacht, but my preference is for the ketch. It's true that you possibly could go to weather a little bit better with the cutter; however, I think the improvement would be negligible due to the hull form of the Fuji. The largest sail in the ketch rig is only 220 square feet. This would make the Fuji very easy to handle short handed. The ketch rig is very hard to beat for leisurely husband and wife sailing. While I don't care for the shape of most club jibs, they do cut down the activity during a tack.
Very few people can go below a Fuji for the first time without some sort of pleasant exclamation. The woodwork is of a quality that is all but extinct and has to be one of the main selling points of the Fuji. Her builder is Fuji Yacht Builders, Japan. The molding details are the best I'v
