I have a 78 two Tonner. Like all things these designs have good and bad points. I have no experience with that particular design, so this is just general info on this style of
boat.
The carter 37 was based on Ydra, the one tonner that did very well in the 73 one ton cup. So she obviously can sail very well.
She was near the end of an era, S&S and Carter were about to slowly give way to the newer breed of lighter and more extreme designs from the likes of
Peterson, Holand and Frers. So in that regard she is pretty untained by the worst of the IOR that really started to generate some extreme and unwholesome designs in the 80's, as the
rule explotaitions pioneered in the late 70's by the 1/4 and 1/2 tonners moved upwards into the bigger
classes. So in this she is probably closer in ancestory to say the S&S 34 than the later IOR designs. Anyway, these boats are pretty stiff, they carry sail well and the 55% ballast ratio is high even for the type, It should go to windward very well, even by modern standards. Downwind they can be twitchy at higher speeds. Slow them down a bit, just below
hull speed and they behave fine, though the roll can still be pretty wild at times. The
rudder on the carter looks a touch small?
The traditional big lowcut genoas are a nuisance. I found a non overlapping
jib worked fine for me, but the carter has a lower SA/disp and might need the
genoa for
power in the light. A 120-130% high cut
genoa on a roller might be a good compromise, prehaps with a removable solent
jib or a staysail for stronger winds.
They are thoughbread sailing machines, rewarding to sail, not really the best for motoring. From the look of the design, and the specs they look like they should be safe enough in a blow.
Jim and Ann sailed a similar design for many years and many miles, also look at Web Chiles boats Resurgam, and Hawke of Tuonela. for examples of what an old IOR
boat can do in the right hands.