The design was built by ETAP Yachting in Belgium starting in 1992, but it is now out of production.[1][2]
Design
The ETAP 35i is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of glassfibre, with wood trim. It is made from a polyester glassfibre foam sandwich that makes the boat unsinkable. It has a fractionalsloopmasthead sloop rig, a raked stem, a reverse transom with boarding steps, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a wheel and a fixed fin keel. It displaces 11,464lb (5,200kg) and carries 3,836lb (1,740kg) of ballast.[1][3]
The boat has a draft of 5.09ft (1.55m) with the standard keel.[1]
The boat is fitted with a Swedish Volvo Pentadiesel engine of 28hp (21kW) for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds 28 U.S. gallons (110L; 23impgal) and the fresh water tank has a capacity of 74 U.S. gallons (280L; 62impgal).[1]
The design has sleeping accommodation for six people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin, two straight settees in the main cabin and a small aft cabin with a double berth on the port side. The galley is located on the port side just forward of the companionway ladder. The galley is L-shaped and is equipped with a three-burner stove and a double sink. A navigation station is opposite the galley, on the starboard side. The head is located just aft of navigation station on the starboard side and includes a shower. The bow cabin also has a sink.[1]
For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a spinnaker.[1]
Operational history
The boat was at one time supported by a class club, the ETAP Owners Association.[4]
In a 2010 review in Yachting Monthly Dick Durham wrote, "An excellent cruising boat – fast, seaworthy, thoughtfully designed and very reasonably priced considering the high quality of build. Etaps also tend to hold their value well on the second-hand market. The unsinkability factor and double-skin construction is a reassuring bonus, offering soundproofing, thermal insulation and eradicating condensation. One fly in the ointment is the optimistic addition of the aft ‘cabin’. I believe that very few yachts under 40ft LOA should have one, and on this boat it's no more than a giant locker."[3]
