S/V DAMSIS is a 2008 Woods 38 Transit based in Cartegena, Spain, for sale by owner. It is one of only four Transit 38s built to date. Her hulls were built by Dennis Gale Builders at Millbrook in Cornwall and the fit out completed by his yard and her first owner. She is built of solid GRP to the waterline, with a compressed foam core of vacuum packed Divinycell introduced after the knuckle and continuing through the topsides, deck and coachroof. (Further details on the build are available from 2019 survey on request)
DAMSIS has Nanni 3.75HE 21hp 3-cylinder diesel engines, connected to shafts and 3-blade folding props. Engine hours approx. 1800. Twin 80L diesel tanks give her a great range under engine if required.
DAMSIS has stub keels with sacrificial shoes for taking the ground, but she also has dagger boards to allow her to point to windward and track true, these increase the draught from 0.85m to 2.2m (approx.) and are operated by lines led back to the cockpit. She really will sail like a yacht and tack happily with no intervention even at one knot (no dumping the main or backfilling the genoa required).
Her sail wardrobe consists of a Calvert fully battened main (overhauled 2020); Calvert genoa (100%), Quantum screecher and a symmetrical spinnaker (brand unknown).
External:
DAMSIS has a deep and safe cockpit with a cavernous aft locker that can house the watermaker, generator, BBQ and outboard engine. The helm position is to right of centre with morse engine controls, Raymarine wheelpilot, a TODD helmsman chair on an adjustable pedestal mounted over a raised box with useful storage under. All control lines are led aft to the cockpit and the winches (6) are all located for ease of use by the helmsman.
She has wide side decks making it easy to move forward for deck work. Her trampolines are of net construction so she doesn’t ship water even in a big sea. She has a wide trestle between the nets giving safe access forward to the bowsprit and anchor.
She has three lockers across the forward bridgedeck: gas locker (currently housing 3 large gas bottles, 2 x 20L fuel cans, 2 x 20L water cans and several smaller fuel cans – to give you some idea of the size of the lockers) , anchor locker, sail locker (holds symmetric, drifter and stormsail); and two forward deck lockers which are big enough to store the passarelle and all fenders & lines in summer and a deflated dinghy and outboard in winter.
She has davits aft to take a 3m dinghy. She has a Quick 1000w vertical windlass and carries 50m 8mm chain spliced to 50m 20mm octoplaid to give plenty of scope for the 20kg Spade anchor. She has a spare 20kg Delta and a Fortress as a stern anchor.
The current owners have completely stripped back all old paint from the deck, cockpit and coachroof and repainted her in high strength 2-pack paint, she sports a traditional grey and white design on deck where all her grey paint is anti-skid for safety. The coachroof is all white but has anti-skid panels where one is likely to stand to work or climb down.
DAMSIS sports new navy blue canvas (2020) including UV strip on the genoa, stack pack and uniquely a detachable boom tent which zips to the sides of the stack pack rather than having to move the stackpack lines to set up. The sides cover the cockpit and aft decks and tie to the guardrails for simplicity, the whole system can be deployed in 5 minutes.
Internal:
DAMSIS has three double cabins, one aft in each hull, and one forward in the starboard hull. Each aft cabin houses an engine bay, accessed via removeable floor panels (no need to dismantle the bed). There are small day-seats, mirrors, a bedside shelf/drawer unit, hanging lockers and shelving units in both aft cabins. Whilst the forward cabin has a day seat, hanging locker and shelving unit, it also has copious amounts of over and under bed storage (currently used to store boat spares, materials, etc).
She has two heads both with manual toilets with holding tanks (60L), showers with new heads and teak gratings. One head is forward in the port hull and has ample shelf storage, and there is a ‘jack and jill’ head mid-ships in the starboard hull. Both heads have sealed sump units that take the grey water to the tank and overboard.
The comfortable saloon area has a drop-leaf table with internal storage around which 7 can sit for dinner or 9 for drinks. The port side settee is a full-sized sea-berth. Under the seating area you will find the battery compartments and associated equipment, as well as a spare freshwater tank and the grey water tank. To starboard, in between the fwd and aft hull steps, is the stand-up chart table. There is a double hanging locker on the rear bulkhead with access to the helm console and steering system, the shelf above houses the chart plotter and navtex units. All windows and hatches have roller blinds for privacy.
Continue to S/V Damsis's Catamaran Photos
Specifications | |
Catamaran Name: | S/V Damsis |
Model: | Transit |
Year Built: | 2008 |
Builder: | Dennis Gale Builders (Millbrook, Cornwall) |
Designer: | Richard Woods |
Construction: | Fibreglass Vacuum bagged |
Loa: | 38ft |
Lwl: | 37ft |
Beam: | 22ft |
Headroom: | 6.6ft |
Draft: | 0.85 dag up 2.3 dag down |
Displacement: | 6tons |
Mast Height: | 58ft |
Speed: | 0 - 14 sail 0 - 6 engine |
Fuel Tanks: | 160ltrs |
Water Tanks: | 300ltrs |
Holding Tanks: | 120ltrs |
Cabins: | 3 |
Heads: | 2 |
Galley Location: | down |
Engines: | 2 x Nanni 3.75 20hp diesels |
Engine Hours: | both engines approx 1700hrs |
Fuel Consumption: | less than 2ltrs per hour on one engine 2200rpm |
Sails: | Headsail Calvert sails 2010 Mainsail Calvert Battened main 2010 Screecher Quantum on continuous line drum 2010 Spinnaker in sock ? |
Layout Diagram

Catamaran Inventory
Construction
- GRP Foam sandwich
Accommodations
- Port AFT double cabin with hanging locker, shelving and under seat bins.
- Access to Port engine under cabin sole.
- 25L hot water tank under cabin sole (new 2022) - heated via immersion or calorifier.
- Access to 80L fuel tank through access panel rear of hanging locker.
- Opening hatch overhead & ventilation hatch to side deck.
- Stb AFT double cabin, mirror of Port AFT cabin with access to engine under cabin sole and access to 80L fuel tank through access panel rear of hanging locker.
- Stb FWD double cabin with overhead hatch, under berth storage, hanging locker and shelves. Additional storage space to port of and foot of berth.
Salon
- Table and seating for 7 adults when dining and 9 just for drinks.
- Table with built-in drinks/glass storage.
- Beige upholstery with new internal foam 2020.
- Upright chart table to stb side of saloon between forward and rear stairs.
- In-built speakers for radio/stereo system.
- 240v Mains sockets (Eur/UK) around the boat.
- LED locker and wardrobe lighting throughout the boat.
Galley
- LED lighting
- Oven with 4 x ring hob and grill
- 2 x fridges, (1 top loader 1 front loader)
- 1 x Dometic freezer box
- Pots, pans, crockery, glasswear, bake wear, storage solutions, copioius amounts of shelf storage
- Electric kettle and toaster(mains)
Cockpit
- Helmsman's seat on adjustable pedestal with under pedestal storage area
- Morse engine controls
- Various sail winches
- Removable steering compass
- Blue stackpack and head cover for mainsail (2020)
- 2 x large canvas zip on sheets for boom tent (zipped onto the stackpack sides)
- 1 x Teak folding Passarelle
Electronics
- Plotter
- Wireless Radar(Ipad required)
- Wind Depth Log display
- Autopilot ST6000
- Wheel pilot(new motor and belt 2022)
- Standard Horizon speaker mic for Standard horizon radio(which is not on the boat)
Electrical
- 2 x VHF Marine handheld radios
- 4 x Domestic AGM batteries ( 520 amp hrs total) new 2020
- 6 x Solar panels ( total 380watts )
- 2 x 70amp hr alternators replaced 2021/22
- 3 x Solar controllers ( 1 x for optional panel up front )
Deck Hull
- 2 pack White painted decks with grey anti-slip patches
- Very large lockers for storage both forward and rear
- Hulls solid GRP to the knuckle then foam sandwich
Sails Rigging
- Calvert Headsail (New UV strip 2020)
- Calvert Battened Mainsail (serviced 2022)
- Screecher by Quantum on endless line furler
- Spinnaker in a sock
Engines Mechanical
- 2 x Nanni Diesels 20hp on shafts
- 2.0 Kw Honda Generator
- Portable Rainman watermaker 70ltrs per hour
Tender
- No Tender
- Honda 2.3hp four stroke air cooled (2021)
Navigation Equipment
- Standard Horizon Plotter
- Furuno Navtex
- Chart table
Safety
- 2 x horseshoes 1 with lamp
- 1 x Danbouy
- PLB
- Drogue
- Fire blanket
- Fire extinguishers
Anchor Docking
- Various heavy duty lines
- 20kg Spade primary anchor + 50mtrs 8mm chain + 30mtrs of octoplaid warp
- 16kg Delta backup anchor + 10mtrs of chain + 20mtrs of 3 ply
- Fortress Stern anchor + 10mtrs of leaded line
Miscellaneous
- 1 x High gain 9db VHF antenna
- 1 x VHF antenna