Tartan 37

[Solosailor]

I have just made an offer on a boat built on the T37 hull. Are there any owners out there who can enlighten me regarding this species? I am most interested in people who have cruised offshore with one.

It's a scary business buying a boat. It's something like shooting yourself in the foot.

[SvLetitgo]

What generation of Tartan is it, some of the most recent one seem to have a few issues lol.

[roverhi]

One T37 made a circumnavigation that I know of. There is a thread on sailnet that has more infomation though the moderator is a bit of a jerk and would discount his comments. Tartan 37 vs. Cal 39 vs Cabo Rico 38 - SailNet Community. Believe they threw away the the center board, btw. There were also a few made with a deep keel.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by roverhi

There is a thread on sailnet that has more infomation though the moderator is a bit of a jerk and would discount his comments.

That thread on the 'other' forum is the best advetisment that Cruisersforum could possibly get.

What a wanker moderator! The first thing he does is tell the poor ol poster he's an idiot who shouldn't be sailing! Then another post from some other goose demanding the OP's sailing skills.

Ratbags!

I would stay here for some more enlightened discussion from people =that know what they are talking about.


Mark

[bloodhunter]

Solo
What flavor of T-37 are you looking at. I had a T-37C for seven years. If that's what you're looking at make sure you check the rudder, after a number of years the T-37 rudders began to delaminate. Our surveyor picked that up and told us it was a common problem. Tis about a $2k job to have it replaced by a yard (may be a biy more now since this was a few years ago).
On the plus side you get a roomy boat with a nice air interior. The walkways between the cockpit and the foredeck are relatively wide for that size boat, a good safety factor. She sails quite nicely and can be easily single-handed. With the board up she draws 4ft 2 in, very good for shallow areas, with the board down she draws 7+ ft and you get good control. She's a very pretty boat with comfortable accommodations for a couple. Our interior with its light cushions was very airy and inviting. All in all the older Tartan 37s were among the better-built production boats and if well looked after ware good solid vessels.
On the minus side, the cockpit is a little small for more than four people. My wife had a very hard time reaching many of the galley lockers (but she is 5 ft even) The boat is relatively light and tens to by thrown around in a seaway. In the chop of the Chesapeake she tended to bounce around a lot. Our boat had teak strips on the cockpit lockers which looked ratty no matter what I did -- finally took them off and refinished the locker tops.
Why did we get rid of her? My wife did not really like her after living with her for a bit. It was mainly the way she bounced around even when heeled to the wind. And mainly we dcided that we were going to sell everything, move aboard and cruise, first the Caribbean and then .. well, wherever. We wanted something a bit more comfortable. When we took Enchantress out for a test sail and had her on the wind driving through the water at 11 kts steady as a rock my wife said that this was the boat.
But I have nothing bad to say about the Tartan 37 a well made and pretty boat.
If you have any specific questions I'd nbe happy to answer them either on line or thru pm

[Solosailor]

Bloodhunter: Thanks for the info. It's not actually a T37. It's an English boat built on that hull to Lloyds specs. It is a deep keel not a CB. Do you remember the ballast on your boat? This "tends to be thrown around in a seaway" worries me. This is way I ask the ballast question. Perhaps the CB version is a little tender?

I hope there is someone out there with deep keel experience.

[LookingForCruiser]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

That thread on the 'other' forum is the best advetisment that Cruisersforum could possibly get.

Don't know about that. This place is often an echo chamber, which is why I don't really participate much. When people have differing opinions it will bring about a certain amount of friction - if you squash that friction too much, you limit the diversity of opinion (and resulting discussion).

[DeepFrz]

Its a Sparkman and Stevens design so has a good pedigree.

[Pyxis156]

Check out www.Tartan37.com, that will likely point you in the right direction and they are a very helpful group.

Hope this helps.

[Jim D]

Where's Ocean Girl (and maybe her Mom, too) for this one? The mom and husband in this case circumnavigated on a Tartan 37. I am reading the book from that voyage now.

Wait, do I hear an echo ...?

~

[DeepFrz]

I see that the Tartan 37 has balsa core in both the hull and deck so I would suggest a very thorough inspection. You want a surveyor that you can trust to do a very good job. The value of the boat will depend a lot on the builder (unknown to me) and how the previous owners took care of her. If water has saturated the core in any area it could mean a very expensive or perhaps impossible repair. If the core is sound and precautions were taken by the builder and previous owners to prevent water intrusion into the core then it should be a good boat. There may be small localized water saturation of the deck that can be repaired, but if the hull is saturated I would stay away from it.

[Ocean Girl]

Hey how'd I miss this thread? I can give you info about the T37 but not on your particular boat as she sounds a bit different. The T37 my parents sailed RTW was hull#2 centerboard, non cored hull, named "Tigger".

As far as her sailing habits, she was by far an excellent all around cruising sailboat period. She pointed well, she didn't need a lot of wind to go, she handled foul weather extremely well. She hove to nicely and could take a beam sea with pluck. Hmm what else? I wont go into construction because it doesn't apply to you (though Tartan builds some mighty fine yachts). Just PM me if you have anymore questions.
BTW- Our friend Silent Voyager also sailed a T37 RTW but he single-handed her and was the first deaf man to do so. My parents helped Charls ready his boat and a few of Tiggers gear was transferred to charls boat so went around twice (the centerboard was one).
Hope that helps,
Erika

PS
Jim D- Thanks for buying my mom's book I hope you are enjoying it.

[Pete the Cat]

I have had my Tartan 37 with a deep fin keel for 18 years and sailed it from San Francisco to Maine via Panama. I am not sure I would agree about "tossed around in a sea" compared to other boats. I delivered boats in my younger years and the reason I bought the boat was because of its ability to go to weather and stability in a chop (she was in SF Bay for 15 years--we got chop) compared to other boats I delivered. The boat has a large rudder and I would actually describe it as moderate in displacement rather than light. The T37 does not initiate a surf nearly as well as the flat bottom boats built by most manufacturers now and she does not have the huge butt they put on new boats to get the aft "bedroom" that sells so well in the boat shows. The large rudder adds to wetted surface but eliminates worries about steering down the front of big waves. Flat bottomed boats are probably faster (because initiate a surf earlier) on the race course, but I will take a T37 in a seaway, any day.

[Gudgeon]

theres a pretty active tartan group on yahoo. (tartan sailing you hae to join the group.

[Solosailor]

Pete the Cat: Do you remember what her weight was and how much ballast she carried. This one is English built and looks to have a taller mast (double spreaders). I am wondering if she carries a little more lead in her belly?