These days the description cruiser-racer has come to have so many interpretations that it can be meaningless, and even the best of them can disappear into the "boats with a lid" category. But when David Thomas created the design for the Sigma 33, the requirements for a genuine cruiser-racer were taken very seriously, and few boats tick as many proper cruiser-racer boxes as the Sigma 33.
It's particularly the case with this attractively-priced version, Pepsi (on sale through Leinster Boats), which in many successful seasons in Scotland was almost invariably well up in the racing frame. But while she gets racing in Dun Laoghaire, her current owners have put the emphasis on cruising reliability, not least through up-grading in 2017 to a Yanmar 3Ym30 diesel which delivers power through one of those impressive Featherstream props, also from 2017 when the auxiliary power system was further improved with a new diesel tank.
With additions like this – plus a new suit of Q Sails in 2019 - you'd expect the boat to be in good order, and you wouldn't be disappointed – "turnkey condition" may be a phrase beloved of estate agents, but it can be applied to boats too, and this is definitely one case where it's right on target.
The most attractive aspect of the Sigma 33 is that she so successfully fulfils the potential of her size. The accommodation – good in port and effective at sea - doesn't feel crowded even with somebody for each of the seven berths, yet she is only one step up the size scale from Half Tonners, and thus is an easily handled proposition with a small crew.
If you've spent the lockdown WFH, and are beginning to find your surroundings slightly grubby and all-too-familiar, taking over Pepsi would be one very effective and instant answer. She's fresh as a daisy - and the new season and distant horizons call.
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