Origins of Lord Nelson 35 Sloop

The following are posts found on The Cruiser's Forum.  

Senormechanico: Here's a line drawing of a Lord Nelson 35 (Lord Nelson 35 Review : Bluewaterboats.org).  It has all the same underwater features you're describing, but a much better rudder than the Union 36. as well.  There are other design niceties like decent tank access and removal without cutting up the floor.  We loved ours while offshore cruising.

Senormechanico: Ours was Grey Max, hull number 6. I was told by the broker where we purchased the boat that the designers had been HC dealers. (Loren Hart was actually a principle in HC and Tommy Chen's yard was building the HC 38 MKII .) They wanted to improve a few things with the HC 33 and got the HC guys upset. Their dealership got yanked, so they decided to build their own. Tommy Chen was the builder. They stretched the design a little here and there, flattening the aft sections to reduce the tendency to hobby horse and giving a little more interior room. All tanks could be removed if necessary for repair, replacement or access to hull. The cabin sole panels came up, the table unbolted with four bolts and you could lift both water tanks out after removing a couple of hold down ss crossbeams. The access hatches were about ten inches in diameter. The diesel tank was under the aft berth and was also removable through the companionway door. The engine/trans assembly was also removable through the companionway door without any drama or cutting. The rudder (airfoil section, not barn door) is designed to be neutrally buoyant so it doesn't add helm while heeling, and is protected with a skeg. See line drawing in previous post link. The upper end of the rudder shaft has a flange with 6 bolts safety wired to hold it to the upper shaft and quadrant (standard cable steering to a wheel) for easy removal if necessary on the hardor in the water. When the production stopped, Tommy Chen destroyed the molds rather than selling them to someone who would make a cheaper version. This was done to preserve the quality image of the originals.  (I asked Tommy Chen if he destroyed the 35's molds.  He said, "No."  Age and use did them in.) There are many other refinements we came to appreciate during the years we cruised with it.