Helmsman 38

Looking for opinions, advice or just comments on the Helmsman 38 or the Helmsman yacht in general.

One of our members here has a build thread going on his soon to be completed Helmsman 38 that would be worth reading.

wrwahl said:

Looking for opinions, advice or just comments on the Helmsman 38 or the Helmsman yacht in general.

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As Craig mentioned, there is a great thread by one of our members who is having a Helmsman 38 built now. I suggest you read it through.

My impression of the Helmsman Yachts is that they offer a great value for your boat dollar. I would also suggest that you look at North Pacific Yachts. North Pacific's business model appears to have been copied by Helmsman.

The two boat lines have a lot of similarities but the designs are somewhat different. Either would be great depending on the layout and features you are looking for.

We have lived aboard our Helmsman 38 for 7+ years. We have traveled 18000 miles more or less. Be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Thanks for the reply. We now have a Ranger 31. Interested in moving up in size. Still very much in the learning curve regarding boating. Impressed with the info on the Helmsman 38. Interested in construction, reliability etc. Any regrets or changes you could mention?

We had the boat built for us. We have lived aboard from Day 1. I was about 10 years from retiring in the boat business (Boat designer builder and boatyard operation) and we wanted a boat that we would not be spending all our time repairing. We have had no problems with the boat. WE made a few changes. Installed a washer dryer, changed the upper deck aft rail so we could put the dinghy up there. The boat has been a great live aboard. I retired 4 years early and now we cruise full time. WE have cruised about 18,000 miles in our first 7 years, We are not going about 4,000 miles, 600 engine hours per year.

dhays said:

As Craig mentioned, there is a great thread by one of our members who is having a Helmsman 38 built now. I suggest you read it through.

My impression of the Helmsman Yachts is that they offer a great value for your boat dollar. I would also suggest that you look at North Pacific Yachts. North Pacific's business model appears to have been copied by Helmsman.

The two boat lines have a lot of similarities but the designs are somewhat different. Either would be great depending on the layout and features you are looking for.

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We bought our 2007 Mariner Seville Pilothouse 37 last July. It is identical to the Helmsman 38, new owner of the line simply changed the name. This is an incredible boat. Absolutely top quality in every regard. About the only thing I could criticize is the lack of documentation on plumbing and electrical systems. All of the installed equipment is from top of the line sources and is well documented. The interior teak joinery and finish is unsurpassed, as is the FRP work. The owner of Helmsman Yachts told me the factory is working to get labor hours down to 20, 000! Boat would be unaffordable if built here.

Helmsman 38PH

wrwahl said:

Looking for opinions, advice or just comments on the Helmsman 38 or the Helmsman yacht in general.[/QUOTE

Welcome to TF and enjoy your journey researching boats of all types. We are currently building the first new H38E with delivery expected in early September. We made a significant number of changes to the base boat and have enjoyed our journey with Scott & Lisa who operate Waterline Boats in Seattle. You can read our thread under Custom Boats / Retro fits.

Feel free to reach out to us either on the forum or off line at N4061@yahoo.com with any questions.

John T.

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There is also a member on here who went from a Ranger 31 to a H38. The name escapes me but I'll see if I can unearth it.