Aerodyne 38
Description
The Aerodyne 38 is a high-performance fiberglass racer-cruiser designed by Rodger Martin (with input from Steve Koopman) and built by Aerodyne Marine in Cape Town, South Africa, starting in 2000. It won Sailing World's 2000 Boat of the Year award for its blend of speed, ease of handling, and cruising comfort, drawing from Open Class BOC (Blue Ocean Challenge) and round-the-buoy racing influences without rating rule constraints. With a lightweight composite construction, retractable carbon sprit (from America's Cup tech), and fractional sloop rig, it's optimized for short-handed sailing—ideal for club racing, coastal cruising, or offshore passages. Only about 18 were produced, making it rare and collectible. The design features a massive 11.5 ft cockpit for outdoor living, quick drainage, and a below-deck layout that's functional yet cozy. Variants include a shallow-draft version (6 ft draft) for shoal waters.
Construction Details
| Designer | R. Martin |
|---|---|
| Builder | Aerodyne Marine |
| Length | 38.000 ft |
| LOA | 37.660 ft |
| LWL | 34.210 ft |
| Beam | 13.000 ft |
| Displacement | 11250 lb |
| Ballast | 4150 lb |
| Max Draft | 7.750 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 50.82 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 14.50 ft |
| p | 51.75 ft |
| e | 16.50 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50.82 ft | 14.50 ft | 51.75 ft | 16.50 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 51.75 ft - (15773 mm) |
| Foot | * 16.5 ft - (5029 mm) |
| Leech | * 53.5 ft - (16307 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 53.77 ft - (16389 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 6 in - (152 mm) |
| Area | * 437.97 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 42.28 ft - (12887 mm) |
| Foot | * 18.87 ft - (5752 mm) |
| Leech | * 37.38 ft - (11393 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 115 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 16.68 ft - (5084 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 12 ° |
| Area | * 352.58 ft² |
| Sail Type | GENOA |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 50.21 ft - (15304 mm) |
| Foot | * 23.13 ft - (7050 mm) |
| Leech | * 47.6 ft - (14508 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 21.75 ft - (6629 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | * 546.03 ft² |
| Sail Type | ASYMMETRICAL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 50.21 ft - (15304 mm) |
| Foot | * 23.93 ft - (7294 mm) |
| Leech | * 46.19 ft - (14079 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 165 % |
| Area | * 901.14 ft² |
| Sail Type | STORMJIB |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 29.07 ft - (8861 mm) |
| Foot | * 10.61 ft - (3234 mm) |
| Leech | * 24.59 ft - (7495 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 60 % |
| Length Perp | * 8.7 ft - (2652 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 19 ° |
| Area | * 126.48 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.