History
The design of the OHLSON 38 dates back to 1967, when Swedish designer Einar Ohlson provided an extended version of his successful 36-footer. Einar Ohlson had made his mark as one of the most successful 5.5 M boat designers in the 1960s besides of Luders, Hunt or Britton Chance jr. His boats were incredibly fast and even today score well as classics within the 5.5 M race circus. For more on 5.5 M check the 5.5. M database
Richard ‚Jud‘ Henderson in his book Choice Yacht Designs states in the chapter on the O-38, the O-38 had been planned for GRP-production from the start (in contrast to the 36s, which were built from wood). Following from a recommendation of US-importer Dick Shehann, a smaller version of the O-38, the O-35 was introduced into the market a few years later with a slightly more modern design featuring a shorter keel, but only five boats have been built. They were offered to the market in the same manner as the 38: their hulls were manufactured by Tyler in the UK. Ohlson presented a 41-foot version, but only 3 have been built, looking wonderful as well.
In later years Einar Ohlson produced another large-scale production boat, the Ohlson 8:8 (about 8.8 m /29 ft overall). A separate website exists for these boats which have been produced under a number of names and by various yards in Sweden. More to find under the dedicated website for the O-8.8 click
Einar Ohlson’s work has been recognized by Lucia de Sol Knight and Daniel Bruce MacNaughton in their recently published "The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers". For reference see