[1][2][3][6][7] The ETAP 39s is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of polyester glassfibre-foam cored sandwich, with wood trim.
The hull has a raked stem, a reverse transom, with boarding steps, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a wheel and a fixed fin keel or shoal draft keel, both with weighted bulbs.
[1][2][3] The boat is fitted with a Swedish Volvo Penta MD-2040s diesel engine of 40 hp (30 kW) for docking and manoeuvring.
The head is located aft of the galley, on the port side, just forward of the companionway ladder and has a separate shower stall.
[1][2][3][8] For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker of 777 sq ft (72.2 m2).
[2][3] The boat was at one time supported by a class club, the ETAP Owners Association.
[9] A 2001 review by Tim Murphy in Cruising World Magazine stated, "the two-cabin version we saw was comfortably laid out ... Boat of the Year judge Carol Hasse liked the aft head, which has a separate shower stall.