Baltic & other early sandwich designs

[b.amateur]

Hello everybody,

finally joined after reading in this forum for a few months.

I have a couple of questions on the 1970s/early 80s Baltic models.

I am looking for an absolutely seaworthy boat around 40 feet that sleeps at least 6 people but is still safely manageable by a couple of which one is a non-sailor.
A Balsa sandwich construction is favorized by me, not only for the weight, but also because of better fatigue resistance - my budget only allows a boat aged 25+ years.

Here comes the first problem: I only know of Baltic building cruising boats from sandwich construction in that time - would like to broaden my range of choice - can you tell me some other boatyards that did the same in comparable quality (don´t want to start digging out a rotten balsa core...)? Wasa could be an example...?

Has anybody heard of a 1970s Baltic with serious water damage/rot in the deck...or god forbid even the hull?

Another question: What do you think of the Baltic C&C constructions with respect to being handled shorthanded? The 37 should be no problem, but I also have a 42 in mind. You know if it was derived from the 1975 Tina-I-Punkt built for the German Admiral´s Cup team?

And finally: I´ve read in this forum that there was a version of the Doug Peterson Baltic 42 built in South Africa (under the name Magnum). Have other Baltic models been built down there as well?

Thanks a lot for giving your opinions,

a bloody amateur

[Gilbert]

I think you may find that older boats with balsa core are more likely to have osmosis problems than newer ones, meaning the core could be wet and have potential delamination issues. So please be careful about that aspect of any vessel you are considering.