Cal 39 Mk II
Built 1978–1982 by Jensen Marine/Bangor Punta
About the Cal 39 Mk II
Researched from public sources for this model. Any individual boat may have been modified or repowered — confirm before relying on any figure.
- Built
- 1978–1982
- Builder
- Jensen Marine/Bangor Punta
- Designer
- C. William Lapworth
- Length
- 39 ft
- Waterline
- 32.08 ft
- Beam
- 12 ft
- Draft
- 6.67 ft
- Displacement
- 17,000 lb
- Ballast
- 7,000 lb
- Hull
- fiberglass
- Hull / keel
- fin keel
- Rig
- sloop
- Propulsion
- inboard
- Water
- 90 gal
- Stern thruster
- none
Sources disagree on engines, number built, fuel tank — left blank rather than guessed.
Spade-rudder, fin-keel redesign of the 1970 Cal 39. Solid glass hull; balsa-cored deck with plywood in high-load areas. Shoal draft 5.5 ft and tall-rig options. Early boats had the Perkins 4-108; later boats a Universal (44) or a 50 hp Pathfinder (marinized VW). Hull count, fuel capacity and Perkins hp are disputed (see disputed). Mk III followed in 1983 per Good Old Boat.
Known problems for this model
-
Hull-deck joint leaks deck
Leaks have been reported at the through-bolted, bonded hull-deck joint.goodoldboat.com
-
Water-saturated rudder steering
Water can get into the foam-cored rudder and saturate it.goodoldboat.com
-
Water through keel-stepped mast rigging
Significant water entry through the mast is reported; inspect and repair the keel mast step as needed.goodoldboat.com
-
Pathfinder diesel problems engine
The Pathfinder (marinized VW) diesel fitted to some later boats has had problems.goodoldboat.com
Engines & parts
Perkins 4.108 parts: good
Factory standard engine — you entered “Perkins 4-108”
Out of production but very well supported. Trans Atlantic Diesels (TAD) sells complete aftermarket rebuild kits (pistons, liners, rings, bearings, gaskets, valves, guides, seals), heads, blocks, crankshafts, genuine Perkins camshafts, rebuilt injection pumps and injectors, Jabsco/Sherwood raw water pumps, heat exchangers, starters, alternators and elbows, plus rebuilt exchange engines. The Westerbeke 4-107/4-108 family and some industrial engines share the base design.
Parts sources: Trans Atlantic Diesels (TAD), Foley Engines
Common problems (1)
-
Rear main (crankshaft) seal leak engine
The original rope-type rear seal is notorious for leaking and often starts leaking again a few hundred hours after replacement; Foley sells a nylon/Teflon replacement seal meant to cure it, and owners check the crankshaft sealing surface for pitting.foleyengines.com · boatdesign.net · forums.sailinganarchy.com
Model sources (4)
sailboatdata.com · goodoldboat.com · sailingmagazine.net · sailnet.com
Researched from public sources. Spotted an error? The sources are listed above — tell us what they got wrong.