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DE's are great boats. Every boat is a compromise so here's a good list of the down sides of the design or manufacture (which may also function as a list of suggested upgrades/fixes). Of course there can be a companion thread which lists the major plus's of the DE's. This thread just lists the bummers, through this list a better comparison to other boats can show the contrasts easily. So if you have some complaints about the design then add to the list.
Make note to list which DE is referenced since the designs are a bit different.
DE32 in general:
The Staysail boom is not considered a safe or space-saving design though it is
convenient to sail in several ways. Many DE's rerig without the staysail boom as the drawbacks outweigh the positives.
Batteries are located in a relatively inaccessible area behind the engine.
Makes it difficult to maintain or check the batteries. Many DE's move the
batteries into a settee (aft or stbd)
Others have complained about the small size of the DE32 cockpit. Compared to
other boats especially modern designs, the DE's do have a very tiny cockpit. (It has also been called a more wet cockpit, compared to other boats, when under good heel.)
If a priority is on socializing or lounging esp. with a larger group, this drawback is a bummer.
The cockpit well is fairly narrow so a wheel takes a significant amount of
space and is difficult to walk around.
Anchor chain runs below deck into the chain locker then down through a very
narrow fiberglass opening into the bottom of the forepeak. Chain tends to bunch
up in the chain locker at this narrow opening unless raked down by hand.
On some DE's the deck hardware bolts thru the deck and the nuts are glassed
into the interior ceiling, so it is not possible to access the bolts unless the
fiberglass is chipped or cut away.
The headliner is attached to strips of wood, these strips of wood are stapled
to the fiberglass and the staples are glassed in. The staples are not monel
and they rust. The headliner uses a hideaway plastic strip, this strip is
stapled to the headliner, with hundreds of small staples, also not rust
resistant.
The main sheet uses an end-boom sheeting arrangement which does not allow for a
traveller. Some DE's add a traveller just forward of the dodger. On my DE,
which has a wheel, standing at the wheel is risky because the sheet tends to be
at neck level.
The v-berth is really high, it is quite a climb to get in & out. For sleeping,
the v-berth's step is usually hidden because the extension piece is in (so the
step is not usable). Many guests have complained that it is hard to get into
the v-berth because it's so high and there's no step. Sounds odd, it's true.
The head is not oriented in the correct direction (it should face aft). Under
heel, sitting on the head is a far lean back or a far lean forward.
The fridge does not have any insulation between the counter top and the
interior (it's just wood). There is a lot of temperature loss in this area, so
insulation needs to be added.
Engine access behind the companionway stairwell is good, except access behind
the engine requires climbing over the engine (esp to reach the batteries or other
maintenance). There's no way to reach behind the engine except through the
open stairwell.
A couple DE owners expressed concern regarding the support of the mast through the deck and suggested this area is not that strong, and the door frame for the head is the only real re-enforcement to the deck in this area. A beefier brace beam likely resolves this.
Older DE's use chainplates which travel thru the caprail instead of outside the caprail. This likely leads to increased likelihood of corrosion on the chainplates.
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I definitely agree with the battery location. Accessibility sucks and with 4 group 31's back there it is a lot of weight aft on the boat.
On our boat "DE38" we have end boom and a traveller. The traveller is right up against the transom. Even sitting at the helm the main sheet will try and cut your head off as you tack or gybe.
Again agree with the engine room access. It is large but you have to climb over the engine. I keep intending to put a removable plywood shelf, with lots of little ventilation holes in it, over the engine that you can use to crawl over for access back into the engine compartment.
On our 79 DE38 the chain plates are external to the hull. I think that at some point they changed the design to external due to complaints.
I have mixed emotions about the head liner. It works really well in my opinion. However if you ever have to get behind it you will end up destroying the attachment points and all the negatives about rusting staples holds true. Our headliner was still in good shape but due to the necessity of getting to deck hardware or installing new deck hardware we have put a few holes in ours. We are now gradually replacing the headliner in the overhead with drop down storage compartments with insulation behind them.
I have run into little issues with nuts fiberglassed into the deck but all the holes in our deck were drilled but not back filled to seal the foam core from water intrusion. However I have to say that on our boat at least all the deck (cabin top deck) fittings were sealed really well and we haven't had any leaks into the core on the cabin top at least. We have had to replace core in soft spots on the fore deck near the sampson posts and in places down the side decks and on the aft deck. As we work on the boat adding through deck bolts or removing fittings and replacing them we are over drilling all holes, wallowing out the core and then back filling with thickened epoxy and then re-drilling the original hole through the epoxy plug.
We have not tried the staysail without the boom. I intend to one day but she sails really well with it installed and I haven't wanted to mess with it. We also intend to change the staysail out to roller furling and want to keep the boom to make pulling the sail in and out easier.
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Access to the engine room on my DE38 was a back-breaker …lifting and locking the companionway to the overhead cross-beam when at sea was a no-go so …re-hinged the companionway on its starboard side – with a small rubber stop on its port forward edge to save the nav-table edge which it now leans against when open.
Every DE38 I have had the pleasure to sail had the head-splitting end-boom mounted sheeting – re-arranged mine on the cabin top [forward of the dodger] in an A-frame rig with port + starboard blocks and tackle attached from through-bolted pad-eyes [with backing plates] to a boom-bail + 2 cabin-top mounted jam cleats and Andersen winches. When 1 line is in use as a sheet,the other works as a preventer …it works well and also opens up the aft deck.
The mainsheet(s) should go through the jam cleat(s) to the winch … as would the staysail sheet (not shown).
Re-located the jib-sheet winches [under the blue Sunbrella cover] aft onto the quarter-deck for easier line handling when single-handing.
When purchased,the staysail boom was the 2nd item ditched …the 28HP Farymann was the 1st.
Installed Pro-Furl roller furling and simply used the original staysail rig by attaching the end-boom double block to the staysail clew with a shackle …works well and the still self-tacking staysail may be sheeted in tighter than before.
Have never been happy with the way water drains from the chain locker aft across the keel top [upon which the stainless steel water tanks sit] then into the bilge …so far the tanks 'seem'OK but the forward one [the only tank visible at that point] shows a little rust around the lower edge.
Drilled ventilation holes in my DE38 under-bunk lockers and inserted Home Depot-bought caps/covers.
Hal Roth [R.I.P.] told me that many DE Yachts employees were from south of the border [illegal aliens] – hence the original low price of the boats …and it accounts for such details as sharp screw points on the inside of teak locker frames.
Martin – DE38 Cutter s/v Eclipse
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Eclipse said:
Have never been happy with the way water drains from the chain locker aft across the keel top [upon which the stainless steel water tanks sit] then into the bilge …so far the tanks 'seem'OK but the forward one [the only tank visible at that point] shows a little rust around the lower edge.
Scott
I solved the anchor locker water draining issue by installing a sump just inside the hatch in the floor in the v-berth and ran lines from the anchor locker, ac condensate line, and shower pan to it. The sump has a small bilge pump in it that runs automatically when it fills with water. I put a through hull in the opening between the lower anchor locker and the rest of the boat and sealed it really well and put a 1 inch hose off of it to the sump. Bilge is now bone dry. That water off the anchor running through the boat is very damaging if it runs under the water tanks and fuel tank. It carries lots of little particulate matter of the chain that can build up on the forward edges of the tanks and under them and hold moisture against them for extended periods of time. That is what caused our fuel tank to corrode and leak.
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