Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueorange
I have spotted a Tartan34c in my homewaters (Sweden).It as a rare ship in our waters but I am considering a buy. Anyone out there with experience from this model? What to look for in terms of weak points? I intend to sail her short handed.
Thanks for any advice/comments
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I have had a 1975 Tartan 34c for the past nine years (now for sale). They are a very easy handling
boat which handles much worse conditions than we do. They are easy boats to
single or double hand. A larger crew gets in the way in the narrow
cockpit unless they are well trained. It will get to 6knots in any
wind over 10 knots on all points of sail except downwind where it wallows. Common issues:
Centerboard -- The original design was poor. The board pivots on a square pin which tends to round out the point of attachment resulting in a drooping
centerboard. The fix isn't terribly difficult and is laid out on the Tartan 34c web site
www.T34classic.org.
Deck -- Most of these boats either have moisture in the balsa
core or have had it repaired. Mostly it seems to get in at the chainplates though sometimes at the hull-deck joint. Very fixable, but not inexpensive unless you can do it yourself.
Engine -- Many came with Universal A4's. Many now have diesels. There are religious arguments about which is to be preferred. I like
diesel.
Engine access is better than any other
boat I have ever been on.
Wheel or tiller -- I have a
wheel. The wheel is forward in the
cockpit and a major reason why it is hard for more than two people to be moving around working the boat.
Boom length -- The booms got shorter over the length of the production run. I believe this was to improve its IOR rating. I have the short boom and it still generates a lot of
weather helm in a breeze. Reef early, use the centerboard to adjust the CLR and it will balance beautifully. Don't know if that is true with the earlier, long-boomed versions.
All in all a great boat that turns heads and
sails well. We loved sailing her so much we decided to opt for more space and amenities so we can spend more time aboard.
There is an S&S model which is more common in
Europe that is a very close cousin of the T34. I don't
recall its name, but may be a good source for comparable pricing. There is a very active T34c users group (
www.t34classic.org) that is also a good resource for
advice.
Hull #1 is based in
Germany and just finished a Transatlantic trip to
Barbados.
Hope that helps.