Design and Construction
The 370 belongs to the Roberts Spray series and was designed by Bruce Roberts as a performance cruiser that has proven itself in both club racing and long-distance cruising. The hull may be built in radius chine, multi chine, or round bilge form, and the published review describes heavy-duty welded or hand-laid hulls with foam-core decks across the steel, aluminum, or fiberglass versions multi-chine steel, aluminum, or fiberglass hulls. A Roberts 370 E radius-chine aluminum boat was built in Australia, and a multi-chine version built in Finland completed the North West Passage. A custom safety skeg is offered as a factory option, intended to capture the best traits of a long fin-and-skeg arrangement while adding a protective safety factor.
Dimensions and Rig
At 37 feet 4 inches overall with a 31-foot-8-inch waterline and a 12-foot-4-inch beam, the 370 carries about 18,760 pounds of displacement against 7,000 to 8,000 pounds of ballast. Draft is configurable: a 4-foot-9-inch shoal option or a 6-foot-6-inch deep fin keel. The boat is a masthead-rigged sloop or cutter, with a standard sail plan around 650 to 700 square feet across mainsail, genoa, and staysail; the mainsail measures roughly 40 feet on the luff and 14 feet on the foot. Builder plans also allow cutter, sloop, or ketch rig, and the design performs well under any of those arrangements.
Performance Underway
Sailboat-data's review credits the 370 with efficient performance in 15 to 35 knot winds, hull speeds of 7 to 8.5 knots, and a stable, sea-kindly motion efficient performance in 15-35 knot winds. Owner correspondence echoes this without hedging toward fantasy: one owner wrote that the boat sails very well, and another reported handling 35 to 40 knot winds on the port stern quarter with no vices while powering along and surfing 2.5 to 3 meter waves, calling the performance very impressive. A Croatian-built example carries a registered 12-knot top speed. The type has been proven in Pacific crossings and Antarctic expeditions, and steel S370B variants have been used by circumnavigators.
Accommodations
Inside, the 370 is built for liveaboard cruising rather than weekend racing. Layout options include pilothouse or center-cockpit arrangements alongside the aft-cockpit baseline, with 6-foot-6-inch headroom in a voluminous interior laid out for 6 to 8 berths. The plan runs a V-berth forward, a U-shaped saloon, an L-galley, a double aft cabin, and dual heads with showers. Tankage is generous at 100 to 150 gallons of fuel and 150 to 200 gallons of water, supporting the long-range profile the design is known for.
Ownership and Refit Context
Because the 370 was explicitly drawn for owner-builders, the used fleet is a mix of professionally finished and amateur-completed hulls across three building materials and several rig and layout choices. A boat named HELIOS was launched on June 22, 1993, and her owner later wrote that the design is really great and would recommend it to anyone dreaming to sail. The aluminum 370E build named Soteria and the steel S370B circumnavigators show how far the platform has been taken. Propulsion comes from a diesel auxiliary in the 30- to 50-horsepower range, such as a Yanmar 4JH, with builder specs suggesting 20 to 33 hp minimum depending on configuration.
The Verdict
The Bruce Roberts 370 is a genuinely expedition-capable 37-footer whose strength lies in configurable construction and a liveaboard interior that does not compromise the sea-going brief. It is not a mass-produced one-spec boat; the buyer must understand which hull form, rig, and build material a given example represents. For a couple or small crew seeking adventure without compromise, it remains a perennial choice.
Pros
- Flexible hull construction (steel, aluminum, fiberglass; radius/multi chine/round bilge) for owner or pro build
- Proven offshore record: Pacific, Antarctic, North West Passage, circumnavigations
- Sea-kindly motion with efficient 15–35 knot performance and 7–8.5 knot hull speed
- Voluminous 6–8 berth interior with dual heads, 6'6" headroom, 150–200 gal water
Cons
- Owner-builder origins mean wide variation in finish quality and systems across the fleet
- Configuration complexity (rig, keel, layout, material) demands careful individual assessment
