Maxi Mixer 35 Details

Handling Characteristics

The Maxi Mixer 35 has a reputation for being a good all around sailor. She doesn’t slam nearly as much as you might expect for her hull shape, Her shallow draft steep angle bow makes her perfectly suited for sailing in the Swedish archipelago, where we often moor bow-first against the cliffs. We use the stern anchor in combination with a long line in the bow.

With her tiller steering, the helm feedback is excellent — you feel the balance really well, though she is relatively heavy on the tiller. When we built the new tiller, we made it about 15 cm longer than the original, so it now measures 125 cm. That small change made a huge difference, giving better leverage and making her noticeably easier to steer.

Since she is relatively flat-bottomed, she doesn’t have a bilge. I was a bit worried about that when we bought her – new stuff are scary! But she’s proven to be 100% dry — no leaks from anywhere, not even from the keel-stepped mast. The hull is also surprisingly stiff, reinforced by the metal beams embedded in the floor structure, which give her impressive rigidity. This is something that Pelle P gave a lot of attention on all his boats. No slacking on the lee side rigging what so ever.

Sail handling is straightforward, with two reefing points on the main. I’d like to add a third reef for tougher conditions, on the to-do list for the new sails. It’s easy to hoist the sails by hand up to about 80%, after which some extra power is needed from a winch or a mate. I am considering adding sail cars instead of the plastic sliders, but I haven’t made any research on this yet.

Up front, she carries a self-tacking jib, which makes short-handed sailing a breeze. However, I prefer sailing conditions where we can carry the Genoa, it gives so much more “oumph” and power to the boat than a little jib alone. The self tacking jib takes a lot of the effort out of tacking and makes family sailing much easier, especially in narrow passages or when the wind shifts frequently. Both common in the Stockholm Archipelago where we sail most of the time.

Wing-on-wing sailing is easy to set up. We typically use the spinnaker pole to hold out the genoa, which keeps things stable and efficient downwind. Despite her size and displacement, she accelerates fairly quickly and is easy to trim. The tiller makes her quick to adjust to whatever conditions are thrown at her.

At just under 6 knots, the sound of the water fizzing along the hull is one of the best speed indicators when sailing by feel. I call it soda speed.

Under motor power, she is not quite as steady on course as when under sail. If the tiller is left unattended, the boat will turn away — not unusual for this type of hull and rudder design. Low-speed handling is very good going forward, but backing out in strong winds can be tricky. Then again, that’s more of a general sailboat syndrome than something unique to the Maxi Mixer.

For short-handed sailing, she’s very manageable. All lines are accessible from the cockpit, and with the self-tacking jib in particular, manoeuvres are simple. I’d love to install a below-deck autopilot in the future so I don’t have to clip the autopilot onto the tiller every time, but even without it she’s easy enough to keep on course.

Overall, the Maxi Mixer 35 strikes a fine balance: strong and stiff in a breeze, responsive enough to be fun, forgiving enough to be comfortable, and well adapted to both offshore cruising and archipelago sailing. And that’s really what she’s all about — a wonderful mix between racer and cruiser – just as her name implies.