Description

After a fantastic ten years of joint ownership, we have reluctantly decided that it is time to sell our beloved Contessa 32 Peak Flow.

The Contessa 32 is an enormously respected very safe and seaworthy cruiser/racer, and came to fame when an early example, Assent, was the only vessel of its category to finish the 1979 Fastnet race. Contessa 32s have sailed round the world, into the high arctic, through the Patagonian fjords, and there is a passionate and highly competitive racing community in the Solent and an enormously helpful and active owners’ association and Facebook group.

Peak Flow was built in 1998, one of the early custom built models after volume production stopped in the late 1980s. The original owners lived in Ipswich and one of them was a lung surgeon, hence the name. The second owner bought her in 2001 and moved her to the Forth, where she stayed until 2019. While John owned her he kept her in covered storage at Port Edgar each winter.

The current owners bought her in 2015, keeping her in the Forth on moorings at Granton during the summer and ashore at Port Edgar during the winter til 2019. Then they moved her to Arisaig, near Mallaig on the West Coast of Scotland. Since 2019 she has spent summers on a swinging mooring at Arisaig, and overwintered ashore at Arisaig Marine with mast down, with trace heater on in cabin, and latterly a tonneau cover over cockpit. The engine has been serviced annually by Arisaig Marine, who also hose the hull down in autumn and refresh antifouling before launch in spring.

She has taken the present owners safely from the Forth to Orkney and the Hebrides, and on voyages round the very northernmost point of Shetland and the UK, round the west side of St Kilda, round the Butt of Lewis, and to Northern Ireland.

She is extremely well equipped, and is set up for easy short handed or single handed sailing. Electronics/electrical, comfort and safety systems have been progressively and comprehensively upgraded to modern standard between 2017-23 by present owners. She sails beautifully, now based in Arisaig, has all equipment necessary for cruising in the Western and Northern Isles, including a storm jib, No 4 working jib, cruising chute and spinnaker – and a diesel heater and electric anchor windlass! The boat is always much admired for its beautiful lines, but could look even better with more attention to cosmetics.

More photos are available, as are full receipts, sailing logs and accounts from 2015 to the present day, and all key records since 1998 when new. The boat is currently on a mooring at Arisaig, paid til September. By agreement, we may be able to deliver the boat to an agreed handover point in Scotland, N Ireland or NW England. Serious potential purchasers are welcome to join us for a sail so that we can literally “show them the ropes”.

Specifications

Accommodation

Sleeping accommodation: Supposedly 6, comfortably 3-4

Twin/double berth in bow cabin

Settee berth each side of saloon

Quarter berth (cramped!) behind navigator’s station.

Dining:

Folding saloon table.

Cockpit table, also acts as fill-in for port saloon berth..

Diesel heater.

Saloon table folded

Saloon table deployed

Cabin, mast not installed

Port side saloon berth

Starboard saloon berth

Cabin with mast!

Forward cabin (during commissioning)

Construction

Contessa 32s are fibreglass with an integral 3/4 keel, and a skeg protecting the prop and rudder. The ballast weight is over two tonnes, resulting in an angle of vanishing stability (calculated!) of 160 degrees. This means the boat is self righting even from a complete knock-down - not that we have ever tested this, but the knowledge is very reassuring!

General Arrangement Side view

General Arrangement Plan View

Keel

Equipment

Water and cooking:

Water capacity - ~50 litres in main tank + spare containers (50 litres) + water bladder (up to 100 litres)
Heads – Jabsco toilet refurbished 2025, plastic holding tank with manual pump-out (only used by first owner)
Galley – double sink, 2 ring + grill + oven gimballed gas cooker. Armoured flexible gas pipe replaced 2025.

Anchoring:

Anchor 25lb (11.4kg) CQR
Anchor rode: 50m 8mm calibrated galvanised chain, 30m 10mm nylon rope
Anchor Windlass: Quick Prince DP2E 800W, first installation 2019, new unit 2024
Anchor windlass controls – Chain counter/handset in cockpit, 3 wifi ‘key fobs’
Spare anchor with 8m chain, 8m rope

Dinghy:

Seago 270 airdeck & keel, with retracting dolly wheels (2019), new aluminium seat 2025
Dinghy Electric Outboard Torqueedo 503 Travel (2017)
Transom boarding ladder

Electrical:

Batteries: 3xAGM 80 Ah, 2 wired in parallel as Domestic (replaced 2021), 1 dedicated to starter and anchor windlass;
Stirling Smart Charger, prioritises starter battery
Solar panels: 1x50W & 1x100W Photonic Universe, each with 10A charge manager, charge continuously.
Shore power connection

All lighting (interior and exterior) LEDs
Navigation Lights (all LED): Bow bicolour, stern white light, masthead tricolour/anchor light, mast steaming light and deck floodlight.

Bilge pumps:

2 completely independent –
1 fixed manual bilge pump at back of cockpit
1 electrical bilge pump (2019) – automatic operation when power and circuit breaker switched on; over-ride with float switch permanently wired to battery.

Sea Cocks

Mostly original Blakes, all thoroughly overhauled recently, and regularly serviced since then.

Protection:

Spray Hood with large single panel window
Winter “Tonneau” Cover for cockpit, 2022.
Habitent cockpit tent, 2017
Dodgers with boat’s name on them

Dinghy

Habitent Cockpit Tent

Heads

Heads with basin folded out

Cooker

Navigation Equipment

Chart plotter: B&G Vulcan 7 (2017), Navionics digital charts updated 2025

Chart plotter cockpit display:

iPad Mini 4 with internal GPS, Wi-Fi link to view & control chart plotter, Memory Map software with 2025 Antares and Admiralty charts.

Autopilot: Raymarine EV-100 Tiller Pilot

Instruments:

Analogue Raymarine depth, speed, connected to NMEA2000 via iTC-5 convertor.
B&G wind sensor connected to NMEA2000 via wireless link.
Digital heading sensor.

Instrument displays:

2xRaymarine i70s multi-function displays – wind speed & direction, depth, water speed, SOG, Heading, COG, BTW.
1x Raymarine i70p used to control EV-100

Data bus: Hybrid NMEA2000/Seatalk NG connects all of above.

Paper Charts: Paper charts (mostly several years old) covering E England round north of Scotland down to N Ireland.

Engine(s)

Engine 20HP Beta BD722, serial 790891: 1894.6 hrs from new.

3-blade fixed prop

Covered engine controls in cockpit (2017)

Fuel tank capacity 54.6 litres + spare containers (currently 25 litres)

Engine oil ~3.5 litres

Diesel heater – PLANAR (Russian) 2KW fitted in cockpit locker (2019).

Calorifier Quick 15 litre, works from engine cooling system and shore power (2019).

Sails & Spars

Mast Selden, original fit
Boom Selden, original fit, with Selden Rod-Kicker

Normal Sails:
Furling #1 Genoa (2014, UV strip repaired 2018)
Mainsail (2014) with three reefs, reef #2 managed from cockpit

Additional sails on boat:
Cruising Chute (used frequently). (2006)
#4 Working jib – ( 2021), hanks onto inner forestay, used a lot.

Additional sails in store:

Storm Jib – not used in living memory. (2011)
Spinnaker (2012) and pole (can readily be re-rigged).
#2 Genoa. Apparently original, modified for furler, little used.

Standing Rigging:

All new 2012.
Regularly inspected, backstay replaced in 2023.

Running Rigging:

Main halyard, topping lift, Genoa halyard, 2nd foresail halyard, three reefs on main, clew outhaul.
Spinnaker up and down haul. (Not currently rigged)
Sheets appropriate to sails.

Main and 2nd Foresail halyards replaced 2022.
Genoa Sheets replaced 2025.

Sail controls:

10 rope clutches in cockpit:

(port) clew outhaul; reef #2 clew; Genoa halyard; working jib halyard; topping lift;

(starboard) vang; Cunningham; reef #2 tack; spinnaker/cruising chute halyard; main halyard.

Lazy jack / stack pack also controlled from cockpit.

Gybe preventer managed from cockpit.

Extendable whisker pole for cruising chute and genoa

Close hauled

Cruising chute going upwind

Close hauled

Working jib, double headsail with genoa

Double headsail cruising chute and genoa

Spinnaker

Safety Equipment

Safety & Communications:

Liferaft: Ocean Safety 4 man canister mounted on foredeck, serviced winter 2024-25.

EPIRB: McMurdo Fastfind with AIS, floats and water activated (2020)

Lifejackets: 4x offshore lifejackets (2015, maintained regularly).

VHF Radio (fixed): Standard Horizon GX1850GPS/E DSC radio with internal GPS, Remote Access mic in cockpit (2020)

VHF radio (handheld): Standard Horizon HX280E

AIS: Digital Yacht AIT 3000 AIS transceiver with VHF splitter (shares masthead aerial with VHF radio) (2017)

Emergency VHF Aerial

Radar Reflector

Inflatable Danbuoy (2020)

Floating rescue rope

Fire extinguishers

Towline and Bridle

Jury Rudder

EPIRB

SOS Danbuoy

Location Map