Friday, March 7, 2014

OCEANIS 37

DCR
Hi Paulo - I was not a Sailnet member but followed your Interesting sailboat thread which I really enjoyed. Especially since you liked the Oceanis 37 which I love as a nice simple little cruising boat. I hope you continue with this blog which I will follow with interest.



Hi DCR!
Yes the Oceanis 37 is a great and relatively inexpensive cruiser, now even more, since the new 38 has come to the market. A boat with a good sailing performance a lot of stability and a nice interior with a big storage space for a 37ft boat.

The boat is still very interesting and certainly one of the boats to look out on the used market. The Oceanis 37 is so good that when it appeared on the market I considered having one upgraded for me (like Anders thought to do with the Oceanis 38), bettering its sailing performance. In the end with all those modifications (I asked for the price) the boat was not inexpensive anymore and did not justify the price difference for a true performance cruiser. Performance cruisers are substantially more expensive than a standard mass production cruiser like the Oceanis 37, one of the best for its price and boat type.

On the US they still sell the boat with a a big difference of price to the Jeanneau 379 and I have to say that if I was on the market for that type of boat, with a price difference of about 20/25000USD, I have many doubts I would chose the Jeanneau. There are not many differences on the sailing potential. That money would be enough for the boat maintenance for some years and would allow me to spend a lot of money in cruising extravaganza like some fancy marinas and some great dinners ;-)
A bit odd for me to say that since I like new boats and state of the art design and that is a measure of how good and advanced I considered that boat regarding its time: It's a 2006 great design by Finot/Conq.

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=7441

Anders:

Hi again Paulo! A quick comment on the Oceanis 37. Yes, a nice boat but for me totally out of the question. Why? A single small steering wheel in the middle so not decent possibility for the normal steering position sitting on the side deck.

Hi Anders,

Maybe I was not clear. I prefer the Oceanis 38, that I think is clearly a better boat than the Oceanis 37. what I said is that for a difference of about USD 25 000 I would have doubts in choosing a Jeanneau 379 over an Oceanis 37. I like a lot more the Oceanis 38 than the Jeanneau 379 that seems to me to be the less accomplished boat from the Jeanneau line. The Oceanis 37 could have as an option a bigger wheel but the 38 has a more modern hull and not only two wheels (that set up has several advantages) as well as two rudders, that are a better overall solution on a cruising boat and not only.

Regarding the Oceanis 38 I have only a doubt and time will tell if it is unfounded or not: The boat will have enough resistance to torsion (in demanding conditions) with a skeleton main bulkhead at the bow? I mean the one that separates the front cabin to the saloon that on that boat is really minimal. But of course, as we have already discussed I am talking about the boat as a family cruiser. The performance can be enhanced and in that case in some points of sail the boat can be as fast as some performance cruisers, but not on others, specially upwind. for that the boat would need a superior B/D ratio. The same with the Oceanis 37. What both boats have in common is a very interesting price for what they offer on the standard version.

Anders:
I do not think you can enlarge the wheel on the 37 that much. The Pedestal is not high enough. I did it once on a Dufour Classic 38,  it was much narrower on the aft cockpit and even so  I had to cut the cockpit locker lids slightly and  the wheel was still slightly too small with the boat heeled.


Paulo:
They had an optional bigger wheel for the boat but you are right, it would never be a perfect arrangement. The boat was not designed for that. To be perfect and to give a comfortable position seated on the side that wheel had to be huge, like on my boat or in any large transom performance boat and for that it had to " enter" the cockpit deck on a slot. That is one of the reasons that the two wheel setup has so quickly and almost universally adapted. Anyway the bigger wheel would make it better and  will give a more comfortable steering position than the standard one ;-)

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