There's a saying that goes something like this: "I know only two sailors who haven't run aground. One never left the pier and the other was a spectacular liar." On the Chesapeake, even the liar grudgingly owns up.
No doubt a shallow draft is a big plus here and that puts a bullet next to the Tartan 37 centerboard version (4'2" with the board up) on our list of Best Bay Boats.
The Tartan's interior build quality is excellent -- in fact, on a par with many of the Asian built yachts.
The balsa-cored decks and hull keep down the displacement. We've seen one local Tartan 37 hulled below the waterline and it wasn't pretty. On the other hand, we know of at least a few that have done circumnavigations.
Overall, T37s seem like sturdy little cruisers and great Chessie gunkholers.Some 450 boats were built from 1976-1988.
There's a pretty good range on the pricing, but the median gets in around our $50K "affordability" benchmark. We admit that at 37' LOA, she comes in a bit over our original size parameter. But, hey, for this boat we're willing to bend the rules a little.
More info:
Chesapeake Bay Tartan Sailing Club
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