BENETEAU OCEANIS 37
PRICE £65,000-£85,000 YEAR 2008-2012
With Italian styling, the Oceanis 37 offered improved comfort and better performance over its predecessor, the Clipper 373. Her freeboard is not excessive and her low coachroof melds neatly into her foredeck, giving her a sleek, contemporary look.
Offered with a shoal or deep fin keel, her redesigned hull made her faster and more stable, while a high-aspect rudder improved grip on the water.
Much thought went into the design of her spacious cockpit, which provides a combined gas locker and dedicated life raft stowage under the quarter seat. There are two shallow seat lockers and one quarter locker in the three-cabin model, but an additional deep locker in the two-cabin boat.
A stout cockpit table provides bodily support when heeled, especially its integral foot bar, and access around the wheel is unhindered thanks to cutaway seating. The helm seat lifts for easy access to the boarding platform. Her foredeck is clear, with a windlass, chunky cleats and a single, sturdy bow roller.
She sports a 9/10ths fractional rig with a deck-stepped Z-spar mast. Twin backstays and aft-swept spreaders eliminate the need for forward lowers. The chainplate is wide.
Harken deck gear includes adjustable genoa cars and a short mainsheet track forward of the main hatch. She has two 44ST primary winches and two 32ST coachroof winches for halyards, reefing lines and kicker. She came with a semibattened mainsail, two singleline reefs, lazyjacks and a zip bag, plus a 110% furling genoa.
She was offered with two or three cabins, the former having a much larger aft cabin with a vast transverse berth. In the latter the conventional forward-aft berths are still roomy, but stowage is limited to a small hanging locker with shelves, as batteries and fuel occupy the space beneath the berths.
The two-cabin model has a large heads and shower stall, which is smaller and further forward with three cabins. Her galley is good, with ample worktop, a front-opening fridge, abundant lockers and food bins, two deep sinks and a large gash bin.
Her saloon boasts 1.95m (6ft 5in) headroom and a large table for six. Stowage is adequate, although numerous pumps, expansion tanks, filters and a calorifier occupy half of the space beneath the settees. Light and ventilation is good, aided by a hatch above the table. The navigation area comprises a small, aft-facing chart table, but with room for displays and locker above. Her roomy forecabin, identical in both models, has a large vee-berth, a dresser, and more stowage than the aft cabin/s.
Under sail she is well-balanced and fun. Stiffer and more manageable than her predecessor, she points well and takes the waves without slamming when close-hauled. Freed off to a reach she powers up, effortlessly making 8-knots+ in a steady Force 4-5. Downwind, though, she really needs a gennaker or spinnaker.
Her 30hp, shaft driven Yanmar motors quietly at cruising speed of 6 knots at 2,500rpm and she manoeuvres obediently.