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Designer: Mark Ellis
The Niagara 35 has earned a reputation as a fast, easily managed blue water cruiser. The traditional looks of a pronounced sheer, trunk cabin with a teak molding, and bowsprit provide a functional deck layout and sail plan. The wide side decks, molded bulwark and large foredeck permit secure sail handling and anchoring. The V-ed hull, long fin keel and balanced rudder provide a soft dry ride at sea, excellent tracking ability and quick but light response from the helm either under sail or power.
Niagara 35
A cruiser that made sense
By Paul Howard
The Niagara 35 is neither traditional cruiser (the fin keel and spade rudder are modern), nor modern racer/cruiser (the fin keel and spade rudder are too traditional). Indeed, it notable sheer further confuses the matter. The Niagara’s high topsides compare to contemporary designs but its coach house hints at the traditional shapes and trim of older designs. The jib is tacked down forward of the stem on a short bow-sprit, but it still maintains a modern sail-plan. This boat is not a luxury cruiser, though the outfitting was well-planned, and when new, it came with an extensive standard inventory. And like other boats designed by Mark Ellis, it is distinctive and purpose designed.
Ellis spent his childhood in upstate New York and completed a degree in business admin. at Boston University, but he began in the marine industry by scraping barnacles off boat bottoms. He also liked to draw boats. In his own modest words, he is a self-taught "doodler-draughtsman". Ellis’ design and draughting experience was garnered in the prestigious offices of Ray Hunt, Philip L. Rhodes, Ted Hood and C&C, but he opened his own design office in Oakville, Ont. in 1975. His best-known works are the Nonsuch designs– a series that began with the 30 and was followed by four other models (the 22, 26, 33 and 36). Other achievements include the Limestone series of deep-vee powerboats, and the Niagara 42 (of which 20 were built, with 14 having completed ocean crossings). The North East 37+, built by Cabo Rico Yachts, is his latest design to go into production.
Ellis said of the Niagara 35 lines, "She is a cruising boat that made sense." Intended to be a comfortable boat for extended coastal passage-making, it is capable of extended ocean crossings, but Ellis states that he would have changed its rig and layout if it was intended solely for that purpose. "Her underwater shape is similar to racing boats of the 1970’s," said Ellis. "The spade rudder is balanced and the keel form is a simple NACA foil without deep draught. Her sheer line is moderate and the ends are balanced." "I suppose you could say she is a moderate design," he continued, "but that sounds dull–I hope the 35 is better than that!" Ellis avoid trends, designing boats for longevity in the way in the way they please the eye and their durability in use. Preliminary drawings of the 35, intended for series production, were completed in 1977. George Hinterhoeller liked the design and tooling began the same year. The first boat was shown at the 1978 Toronto International Boat Show. About half of the 260 hulls built at the St. Catharines Ont. plant went to the U.S. The last boat built left the shop in 1990.
The original interior was said to be arranged for distant coastal passage-making, with two quarterberths in a cabin just inside the companionway. The head and galley separate it from the main saloon which extends forward of the mast. The forepeak is for storage. Owners began to tell Ellis they wanted a cabin up forward, "one that would be left as a bedroom." The second interior (The Encore), introduced in 1984, has a large double berth forward, separated from the main saloon by a head and shower. A u-shaped galley is located to port just inside the companionway, with a quarterberth and nav station to starboard.
There were no changes to the hull, deck, or rudder, but the first five vessels were equipped with swaged wire standing rigging. The remainder of the boats have rod rigging. Until 1982, the Volvo two-cylinder, 21-hp unit was installed as the auxiliary. After that the three-cylinder Volvo, or four-cylinder Westerbeke was installed. Some equipment, optional on early models, became standard in later years. All boats had pressure cold water systems, but hot became standard in 1982. In 1983, the oiled interior with plastic lights was changed to a varnished interior with brass lights. The bowsprit was extended in 1985 to increase the foretriangle without increasing the overlap. The 35 was designed for a 140 per cent genoa, but owners wanted a 150 per cent sail for the light airs of the Great Lakes. Shore power also became standard in 1986.
Michael Pullen, a geological engineer, and his partner, Tom Tartaglia, an interior designer, began shopping for a high-quality boat they would own for a long time. Though not intent on an offshore boat, they expected a boat that would permit them to cruise safely on an extended passage. Eighteen months later, after working with extensive photos of the 35, they began a project to customise a standard 35 to their tastes. Pullen and Tartaglia presented Hinterhoeller with eight pages of computer printouts of changes to materials, rigging details, locker shapes, plumbing fixtures and so forth, down to the cabinet knobs and cabin sole coverings. The basic bulkheads of the Encore interior were left in position, but nearly everything else was open for change.
"Many Niagara 35 owners are still in the hands of their original owners," said Dave Harris, a broker at Harris and Ellis Yachts Ltd., which specializes in Niagara and Nonsuch yachts. "Re-sale prices of the 35 haven’t dropped like some other designs. People bought this boat for her quality," he added. Harris said an original Mark I, in rough shape, might sell for $60,000, although most sell for $10,000 to $15,000 more than that. In 1984, the price of a new Encore was $87,350. But Harris adds that he has never heard of one selling second-hand for less than $90,000, with most listed at over $100,000. Notable passages made in 35s include that of Gordon McClarity, who bought a second-hand model in B.C., then sailed her to New Zealand and Australia, returning to Vancouver via Japan. Pierre Desjardins of Montreal sailed his boat to the Greek Islands. During my family’s circumnavigation, we met a Niagara 35 in the Pacific and the owner gave he high praise for her load-carrying capacity and easy motion at sea.
Niagara 35: Sweetwater Sweetheart
Freshwater origins and fresh ideas produced a salty cruiser in the Niagara 35
2006. May 02
By Jayne Finn (Cruising World)
Traditional looks combined with modern features draw frequent compliments for the Niagara 35, which was designed by Mark Ellis and built from 1978 to 1990 by Hinterhoeller Yachts in St. Catherines, Ontario.
Under way, the boat is stable and stiff, and we've had the rail of our Niagara 35, Phantasia II, in the water only once, when beating down Lake Huron in 20 knots of wind. On that same trip we hooted and hollered downwind at over 8 knots on a day on which virtually no one else was out. While the boat tracks and maneuvers well, sail trim and the right sail combinations really make or break progress upwind or in light air.
A sudden encounter with a rock in poorly charted Georgian Bay assured us that Hinterhoeller built a tough boat. No water came in, and the only visible damage was mangled lead on the leading edge of the keel.
Below the waterline, a semibalanced spade rudder complements a longish rather than deep keel that's massively faired into the hull with a substantial sump. The hull is semicored and needs to be monitored, but Niagara 35s aren't known to have blister problems.
On deck, a short bowsprit extends the foretriangle and supports double anchor rollers. Later models came rigged with an inner forestay on the large and secure foredeck, and many older ones have been similarly retrofitted, once duly reinforced. The keel-stepped, single-spreader rig is staunchly supported with double lowers, and the chainplates tie into accessible interior knees heavily bonded to the hull. Jibs can be sheeted to an aluminum toerail on the bulwark or to an inner track on the wide side decks. On older boats, the balsa-cored decks should be checked for water saturation around fittings.
The cockpit seats have high backs for comfort and are long enough for stretching out; beneath are deep lockers. A drained and vented propane locker aft holds two 20-pound tanks. A bridge-deck keeps the companionway secure.
The interior of our Niagara 35 was one of two configurations. It's an unusual but intelligent design for extended coastal cruising for a couple.
The companionway leads to the aft cabin, which has a smallish double berth to port and a quarter berth to starboard with a stand-up nav station on top of a large dresser at its head.
Doors lead from the aft cabin to the head and to the galley. Another door opens to the head from the saloon, which is largely forward of the mast. Sitting in the saloon with these doors open, you have a view of the entire length of the boat, which--with over 6 feet of headroom and lit by four fixed windows, four opening ports, and four hatches--has a sense of openness that belies its size. When fitted with lee cloths, the saloon settees either side of the drop-leaf table make excellent sea berths.
A hanging locker to starboard and drawers and lockers to port separate the saloon from the forward cabin, which on our boat is given over to sail stowage, bins, lockers, and a workbench complete with vise. A deep chain box low in the bow can be divided for chain and rode. The engine, behind the companionway stairs, is more accessible than on many boats this size.
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