Here's a clean design from Tim Jackett and the folks at Tartan Marine in Grand River, Ohio. Tartan has been with us for a long time and their boats have always been excellent examples of dual-purpose yachts. We have grown so desensitized to the terms racer-cruiser and cruiser-racer that I think dual-purpose is the more accurate description. The most interesting aspect of this boat is that it was designed to take the place of the existing Tartan 37 model. This puts the builder-designer team in the enviable position of trying to outdo their own product.

The Tartan 372 sails away under a reach.

The Tartan 372 sails away under a reach.



The biggest difference between the new model and the old is that the old 37 was designed to fit the IOR rule while the new boat looks like a nice smooth IMS-type with a clean run and broad hips aft without going to an extreme. There is no skeglet in front of the rudder and the rudder is elliptical. The lines show very arc-like sections with a tangent at centerline. The topside flare is moderate, although with BWL of 10 feet, at station 6, there is enough flare to give a pleasing shape. The displacement to length ratio is 232.

Two keels are offered, with drafts of 6 feet, 10 inches and 4 feet, 9 inches. The latter is a Scheel keel and carries an additional 500 pounds of ballast. I suppose that there was an effort made to duplicate the VCG of the deep keel with the Scheel keel. That's asking a lot of a 4-foot, 9-inch keel, so the extra 500 pounds of lead would come in handy. If you analyzed the sheerline, you would find the low point quite far aft, perhaps at station 7.75.

The deck shows some careful sculpting. It is definitely a departure from the razor-edged, faceted decks that have come into vogue. This deck flows with soft shapes that look low windage. The most interesting feature of the deck, to me, is the way Jackett has wrapped the cockpit coamings around the forward end of the cockpit, adding a bit to the working headroom in the head and aft stateroom while stealing some length from the cockpit seats. The interior uses angled bulkheads in the main cabin to increase the usable space, or at least the feeling of usable space, which may be just as important. The galley wraps around over the engine box. The quarter cabin has a huge double, 6 feet, 4 inches wide, with a bureau and hanging locker.

The Tartan 372 is rigged with double spreaders and a babystay. Jackett designed about four inches of pre-bend in the rig. The SA/D ratio of this design is 17.53. This does not indicate a high-powered rig, but there is enough horsepower here to please the club racer in any but the lightest air.

Tartan has a long history of aiming at what I consider the typical American sailor. Freed from rating rule constraints, the 372 should appeal to a very wide band of sailors.

Boat Specifications
LOA37'2"
LWL30'10"
Beam12'4 "
Draft(fin) 6'10"
Draft(Scheel) 4'9"
Displacement(fin) 15200 lbs.
Ballast(fin) 6500 lbs.
Ballast(Scheel) 7000 lbs.
Sail Area672.5 sq. ft.
SA/D ratio17.53
D/L ratio232
AuxiliaryYanmar 3HM 3FE 34 hp
Fuel43 gals.
Water90 gals.

 

SAILINGlogo-115This story originally appeared in Sailing Magazine, and is republished here by permission. Subscribe to Sailing.