Storebro Royal Cruiser 38

Information

The Royal Cruiser 38 is the larger sister of the Royal Cruiser 34. The development task was to develop a larger ship, which took over the design of the successful Royal Cruiser 34. The hull was designed by John H.V. Lindblom, who at this time worked as a staff engineer at Storebro. The superstructure was designed by Winfried H. Wilke, who developed the previously known design of the Storebro Royal Cruiser 34 or Storebro Royal Cruiser III and gave the ship a classic, but much more modern appearance. The new design was then used a year later for the Storebro Royal Cruiser 34.

The boat was offered in four different variants:

• Royal Cruiser 38 - This ship was the direct offshoot of the original Royal Cruiser 34
• Royal Cruiser 38 flybridge - In this variant, the flybridge was added to the original version. Unlike the Royal Cruiser 34 the hull of the Royal Cruiser 38 had no problems with the extra weight.
• Royal Cruiser 38 with deck saloon - The deck saloon was designed especially for the northern waters. With a door at each port and starboard side convenient access was possible.
• Royal Cruiser 38 with deck saloon and flybridge - This version of the Royal Cruiser 38 combined all the benefits of the whole concept. The popular flybridge delivered a luxurious driving experience while the stay on board become much more comfortable because of the protective deck saloon.

The Storebro Royal Cruiser 38 was fitted with Volvo Penta TAMD 60 and TAMD 70 series engines. From the start of production, the boat was delivered with TAMD 70B and 184 kW/250 hp. From the fifth boat onwards, the more powerful TAMD 70C with 199 kW/270 hp was installed. Only the last boat, built in 1980 for a Norwegian customer, was equipped with a TAMD 70D, also with 199 kW/270 hp. Two customers ordered their boats with the TAMD 60A with 141 kW/192 hp, which meant that the boats were slightly underpowered.

• The first Storebro Royal Cruiser 38 with yard number 2176 was the only ship that was built with a hull in sandwich construction beneath the waterline. This was due to the fact that the first hull was built on a wooden frame, which was covered with foam panels and stitched up to the frame. Then the foam panels were laminated and the seams to the wooden frame were opened. Afterwards the hull was rotated. The wooden frame was removed and finally the hull was laminated from inside.
• Unlike the later produced ships, the prototype was equipped with toilet and shower to port. Later ships received the layout known to the SRC 430 with toilet and separate shower to starboard. For this layout, the double bed had to be slightly reduced.
• The prototype was built for a Danish customer.
• The first boat with decksalon (no. 2230) was taken over in Västervik by the German Storebro-representive Harry A. Sührcke and transferred on its own keel to Germany.
• One of the most popular owners of a Storebro Royal Cruiser 38 was Benny Andersson of ABBA. He owned the hull number 2400, a Storebro Royal Cruiser 38 flybridge.
• The last Storebro Royal Cruiser 38 was delivered in 1980, after at least 10 boats of the successor model Storebro Royal Cruiser 40 had already been built, because the customer did not like the plastic look of the successor model.

Technical development