What is the background and history of the Manitou 32?
How many Manitou 32s are there in Australia?
Where can I get an Owners Manual?
What are the sea going (ie off-shore) capabilities of the Manitou 32?
What types of rig are there and what are the pros and cons of each?
What is the practicality of centre cockpit layout especially for single-handed sailing?
What is the practicality of extended living on-board/cruising?
Are there any Manitou 32s for sale?
What is the background and history of the Manitou 32?
- The original advertising suggested that the Manitou was named after the Hawaiian God of wind and water. An extensive search has failed to reveal any such Hawaiian deity and it seem more likely that the origin is linked to the North American Indian word for the "Great Spirit". More.
- Manitoulin Island in Canada is the largest fresh water island in the world, and we have appropriated its name to use as a collective noun for Manitou owners.
- All this North American influence might lead you to think that the Manitou is an American or Canadian design. Not so - the Manitou 32 is Australian designed.
- Word has it that John Biddlecombe saw a delightful little yacht called Paulina E, designed by naval architect Bill Elliot, and approached Bill for the lines. From these, he developed the Manitou 32. Paulina E was owned by Dave Gray and was moored for many years at RPAYC at Newport.
- Bill Elliot's design was about 30 ft long with an aft cockpit. John kept the underwater lines but extended the overhangs and incorporated the centre cockpit and aft cabin. As the line drawings show, the Manitou hull has a long keel and is 9.75m (32') LOA with a pronounced canoe stern. The long overhangs fore and aft give an LWL of 7.32m (24').
- For a look at the original sales brochure used to market the Manitou 32 take a look at the following pages (approx 550 Kb in total) ...
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In the mid to late 1970s John Biddlecombe built numerous bare hull and deck mouldings which were bought and fitted out by owners. Keith Clarke bought the sixth boat out of the mould in 1976, named her Astrolabe and owned her for 18 years. As Keith recalls ...
" Biddlecombe only sold the bare hulls, and most of them were fitted out by the owners with varying degrees of success, but I must say most owners did a surprisingly good job. A few of them were professionally fitted and the best of these was Cassandra which was a really beautiful job. The plug from which the mould was made was later sheathed in GRP and became Manitou No.1. She was apparently a success and was around Pittwater for some time. One of the early yachts was temporarily rigged using fencing wire and sailed down to Jervis Bay for completion. I believe she turned out very nicely. God looks after his own!"
- An owners association was very active in the early to mid-1980s.
How many Manitou 32s are there in Australia?
- There were around 60 built (although some rumours suggest 100+). The number still sailing is unknown but nearly 30 have been located during the recent search to find members to join the Owners Group. The Vessel Register lists all confirmed (and other) sightings.
Where can I get an Owners Manual?
- Wouldn't we all like to know! This is not the sort of craft that comes with an Owners Manual. As one broker said ... " ... people who own Manitous are a bit like people who drive MGBs ... they're fanatics" ! (I don't know what it means ... this is just what he said. Ed)
- In the absence of an Owners Manual check out the Boat Tests which appeared in the Boating Press in the mid-1970s.
What are the sea going (ie off-shore) capabilities of the Manitou 32?
- Some commentators say they are a bit prone to hobby-horsing (due to fine entry and canoe stern and long overhangs both ends) but the hull shape is recognised as being very sea-kindly.
- Here's a quote from a 1982 Newsletter about a boat returning from Cairns to Hobart as part of a 5000 mile cruise ...
"The yacht has an Autohelm 2000 steering gear which works faultlessly. Barry told us of his Bass Straight crossings, one of which was in 50 knot winds surfing down waves with only a small jib, the boat touching 15 knots and virtually 'hands off' the tiller."
- Francis Pantus bought Wayward in 2000 and says ...
"We're very happy with her performance under relatively heavy weather (30-odd knots of wind, 2 meter seas in Moreton Bay). Having sailed a Halcyon 27 for about seven years on the North Sea and the Channel, this is really a very enjoyable experience".
- And more from Keith Clarke ...
"Biddlecombe's hulls were built with a heavy laminate, and were very solid. I bounced [Astrolabe] off a ship's buoy in Sydney Harbour once and did not have a scratch on the hull. We also found the bottom on a rock ledge off Broughton Island. She balanced upright for a second then the next wave took us over. Again absolutely no damage. I was never able to take her on a really long voyage, but went on many passages up and down the N.S.W. coast - Coff's Harbour, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Jervis etc. etc. I was never let down by the Manitou, but we were not as gentle with her as we should have been. Our main sin was carrying too much sail on her as we were invariably shorthanded. Rarely more than two on board and were reluctant to reduce sail until we had to. Very unseamanlike.
The Manitou can sail very well with a minimum of sail in a fresh breeze. In a fair breeze, to windward, she would sit on 5.5 knots without any trouble. Downwind she was a joy. The most we got on the clock was about eleven knots, though we may have done a little more in bursts."
What types of rig are there and what are the pros and cons of each?
- The two main rigs are masthead sloop and ketch rigged. Purists would argue that the two masted configuration is not a ketch but is in fact a yawl. The mizzen mast is behind the rudder post (but only just) and is only about 65% of the height of the main mast. It seems that Biddlecombe referred to the rig as a ketch in his advertising and everyone just followed along.
- It is generally conceded that the sloop 'has the edge' over the ketch rig in terms of boat speed but many owners fell in love with the appearance of the ketch and this configuration predominates. The ketch rig is perhaps more cruising-friendly (scope for heated debate here - Ed), especially in a strong blow. There can be no dispute about the fact that the ketch rig looks very pretty. If you have a ketch then you might be interested in reading Why a Mizzen?
- The Manitou has proved to be a very adaptable design. Over and above the basic configuration there is a number of variations with cutters, bowsprits and even a junk rigged example known to have been built! In the early 1980s there was a dark green hulled Manitou which was fitted with a 70 (yes seventy) hp diesel. It was never seen rigged (so presumably was classed as the motor cruiser rig), but was frequently observed hooning round Pittwater at a rate of knots none of the other Manitous could hope to match.
What is the practicality of centre cockpit layout especially for single-handed sailing?
- The deck layout is highly practical assuming all controls lead back to the cockpit.
- A dodger is essential as the helmsman gets a lot of spray right in the face that would land on the deck of an aft cockpit job.
What is the practicality of extended living on-board/cruising?
- The Manitou has been seen advertised by one broker as a "pocket-cruiser" and as such is probably best suited to single-handing or a couple for long distance sailing. Due to the long overhangs fore and aft and the relatively narrow beam, the accommodation available does not match aft cockpit vessels of similar length. With suitable fitout however, it can be made to be quite comfortable.
- Henry Ryagard has reportedly completed at least one single-handed circumnavigation in Wasa. One owner is known to have undertaken a solo N. Queensland to Port Stephens run and other single-handers have regularly done East Coast trips.
- Commencing in 1997, Keith and Angela Phillips undertook a two-year cruise from Melbourne, up the East Coast and across the top to Indonesia. Their voyage is chronicled on their must-see website at http://www.geocities.com/aussiecruise/index.htm
Are there any Manitou 32s for sale?
- They crop up regularly in Trade-a-Boat with asking prices between $30,000 (realistic - Ed) and $45,000 (ambitious - Ed).
- Boats known to be for sale are identified as such in the Vessel Register.
| Length Overall (LOA) | 9.68 m (31' 9") |
| Load Waterline (LWL) | 7.16 m (23'6") |
| Beam | 2.84 m (9' 3") |
| Draft | 1.52 m (5') |
| Displacement | 4536 kg (10000 lbs) |
| Ballast | 2268 kg (5000 lbs) |
| Main Mast (above deck) - Sloop | 11.43m (37' 6") |
| Main Mast (above deck) - Ketch | 10.485m (34' 5") |
| Mizzen Mast (above deck) | 7.32m (24') |
| Working Sail Area (Sloop) | 49.24 m2 (530 ft2) |
| Working Sail Area (Ketch) | 49.24 m2 (530 ft2) |
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| Ketch Feet |
Ketch Metres |
Sloop Feet |
Sloop Metres |
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| Main and Headsails | ||||||
| I | Foretriangle Height | 34.400 | 10.485 | 37.500 | 11.430 | |
| J | Foretriangle Base | 12.008 | 3.660 | 12.008 | 3.660 | |
| E | Foot Length | 8.875 | 2.705 | 12.008 | 3.660 | |
| P | Luff Length | 30.000 | 9.144 | 31.988 | 9.750 | |
| Mizzen | ||||||
| IY | Mizzen Height | 23.750 | 7.239 | |||
| EY | Foot Length | 7.100 | 2.164 | |||
| PY | Luff Length | 20.625 | 6.287 | |||
This sketch is an extract from the original sales brochure (kindly provided by Keith and Angela Phillips) used to market the Manitou 32 concept. This is only one example of internal fitouts in Manitou 32s. Accommodation layouts vary widely according to owner ingenuity (eg. innovative location of Cynisca's head).
The above sail plan sketch was kindly provided by Tony Partridge (Gem). The image file (sailplan1to50.gif) is to exact 1:50 scale.