YES Love this design
We've owned our 32-2 for 5 seasons now. We were not planning on buying a new boat but when we stepped on board both the E32-2 (1973) my wife and I said we have to get this one...
There's something just right about the design, the layout, the way it sails. When you step on board you see what I mean. Having said that it's not a perfect boat but it is a fun boat. We sail it most of the summer, the longest trip being one to Block Island (from New Jersey - 3 days each way as we didn't want to go on the outside and we slept nights on the hook on LI sound). If the sails are good, it will sail upwind in amazing fashion. Downwind it's slower and you will need a lot of sail area, and it really wants to be 20-30 degrees off in order to take off. I have an asymmetrical but have not used it much to really be able to tell.
Ours was updated with a yanmar 2gm20 which is not a 20hp as the name would imply... It's a but underpowered for the river we have it on which has a 4.5 knots reversing current. But for most sailing places it would be fine. I would only buy one if the motor has been replaced with a diesel, or figure that into your cost. (get a beta!). The v-birth is huge huge. Larger than a king size bed. Really. We've done some cool upgrades like a fridge that is powered both from shore power and only draws about 2 amps from battery when under way. Also solar etc. PM me and I can send pictures.
One of the good features is that the keel is encapsulated. Last summer we had an "encounter" with some rocks. OK it was bad. We were doing 6 knots under power. My wife at the helm, and she asks "which side do I have to take these white buoys?" Oh... you mean the ones that say "danger"???? We hit hard on rocks. We got stuck. Eventually waited for the tide and broke free. Upon haul-out, the keel was badly dinged up. The rudder stock bent back (3 degrees or so) and a large chunk of the rudder was cut off like a shark bit it off... (the rudder we had when we bought the boat had been elongated as the boat was used as a racer, so it was really too long)
Of course we kept sailing and made it back because... the keel is entirely incapsulated. There are pellets of led, and the top of the keel is also encapsulated. So no water inside the boat.
We repaired the keel, and just patched the rudder (the bit that ripped off was an added bit to make it bite more downwind in following seas). It's still bent a bit but no water intrusion and it means we can still sail. We were told don't bend it back or then it really weakens it... New rudder is about 2k... so we're not doing that... Anyway --- encapsulated keel is great.
In terms of room, for two people it's ideal. No problems, we don't need extra space. Sometimes my two daughters also stay with us (10 and 15) and it gets small. Up to two nights it's ok. After that it gets to feel small. But for two, we sometimes spend 10 days non stop when the kids are with my exwife and the boat feels great. Really the v-birth is the roomiest (and much larger than the E38 we almost bought last summer). Not sure how that compares with the newer 32-300 etc. But If the 35-2 has the same size vberth - if it's in good shape and if you can afford the 35-2 go for it. It's the same boat virtually only bigger. Probably harder to singlehand...
I would add this. If you have the winches in the back area (it's where the spinnaker winches would have been originally) and the handy traveller next to the steering wheel where it should be, the 32-2 is a joy to singlehand. I can tack the genoa with no issues. However the tradeoff is the boat does not make it easy t have a bimini. So plan on large hats...
On the Chesapeake I would sail an E32-2 any day. In fact if you want to sail with us lower NY harbor for a test sail maybe we can trade you for a sail on the Chesapeake. Oh one more bad thing about the design. Access to stuff... The motor just about fits... But to replace the water pump (which on Yanmars is facing backwards) I have to remove the sink. I do that once a season to do the maintenance. The stuffing box is hard to reach. You have to go through a lazarette which if you're small and do yoga might be good. But I find it a bear. I had to replace my cables for steering and that was not fun... So when you replace things you'd have to make sure you do it right the first time because most things you end up swearing a lot and vow to never want to do THAT again!
All the best, and let me know if you want more pics.
All the best,
Eugene