1981 Tartan 33 Pre-Purchase Survey
There's no doubt that Tartan 33's are built to last. However, most boats from the early '80's that age well are able to do so because their hulls are solid fiberglass laminates, and not cored with balsa or foam. The cored hulls often weren't built well enough to keep the moisture out, and things get ugly from there.
In this case, Tartan used a balsa-cored hull, but did so well enough that there were no moisture issues on this particular hull. Even on deck, there were a few spots to watch, but nothing getting soft - and two of those spots were around hardware that had been added after the boat was built.
The rig is a little unusual - a beefy, untapered spar configured as a fractional rig. The spreaders are swept aft, and the chainplates are aft, but the backstay has to provide most of the headstay tension, and its adjustment was somewhat limited - at least on this boat.
The interiors of boats this size are always a little tough - trying to fit as much as a 36-footer into a smaller area. This design does a good job of working it out. As an earlier Tartan 33, this boat had the icebox across from the galley - limiting the length of the port settee. It's not a bad arrangement, but could come into play if you really want that bunk space. The head spans the width of the boat between the mast and the V-berth, which isn't too big an issue, but nobody is going to or from the V-berth when the head is in use - unless they use the deck hatch!
As on any boat, it's good to be wary of aftermarket modifications from prior owners. This boat had a propane tank mounted on its side with nice, welded brackets. Was it designed to be mounted that way and still pull gas off the top of the tank, or is there a danger of liquid propane reaching the outlet??
