Built in Florida, the Endeavour 37 has a solid-laminate fiberglass hull and internal lead ballast. It was offered principally as a sloop, with a ketch option. From the outset, it was intended as a comfortable, shoal-draft passagemaker rather than a racer. Practical Sailor’s owner survey and the boat’s specifications paint a consistent picture: this is a heavily built, accommodating cruiser that trades lively upwind performance for steadiness and liveaboard practicality.
Design and Construction
The Endeavour 37 is a monohull with a fin keel and skeg-hung rudder. More precisely, the keel is a shallow, long “cruising fin” with a straight run, cut away at the forefoot and ending well forward of the spade rudder.
The keel is integral to the hull mold. Its 8,000-pound lead ballast was dropped in internally and glassed over, leaving no keel bolts to concern a buyer or surveyor. The hull is a single-skin, solid fiberglass laminate, and the boat is heavily built and reasonably well finished.
Owners supported that assessment of the structure, describing the boat as solid and “built like a tank.” In Practical Sailor’s survey, no owners reported oilcanning panels or moving bulkheads.
Inside, the joinery is plywood with teak trim. One owner with woodworking experience praised the excellent trim joints, and the teak parquet cabin sole became an Endeavour trademark.
Rig and Sailing Performance
Most Endeavour 37s are sloop-rigged, although the company offered the ketch as a paid option in 1977. It later added a bowsprit to enlarge the foretriangle and make ground-tackle handling easier, as well as a tall-mast option.
The rig is very simple and unlikely to confound a newer sailor. That simplicity doesn’t bring speed, however. The boat isn’t fast with either rig, and the sloop is somewhat underpowered, with windward performance purposely sacrificed for shoal draft.
Sailing performance is marginal, especially upwind. Many owners complained of heavy weather helm in stronger winds; one reported tacking through 115 degrees, while another noted excessive leeway. PHRF ratings range from 198 for the standard rig in the Gulf of Mexico to 177 for a tall rig with bowsprit racing in Florida.
Many owners nevertheless reported satisfactory balance as long as they paid attention to trim, reefing, and sail combinations. The Endeavour 37 has also made safe ocean passages.
Accommodations
Endeavour offered two interior arrangements.
Plan A is the less conventional choice. It replaces the forward V-berths with an enormous U-shaped dinette and gives over a large, divided forepeak to chain and sail stowage, accessed from the deck. The galley is arranged as a sideboard to starboard, with the head opposite to port near midships. Two large double quarter berths lie aft.
Plan B follows a more traditional layout. It has forward V-berths, with a head and toilet just abaft the bunk. In the saloon, settees surround an offset drop-leaf table, and a pilot berth sits above the starboard settee. An aft quarter cabin to port has a privacy door.
Both layouts provide berths for six or more, including proper sea berths. Plan B’s pilot berth raises the total to seven, although most owners converted it to stowage.
Equipment found across both layouts includes hot and cold pressure water, a shower, copper plumbing with an automatic sump pump, a porcelain sink, a full-length mirror, deep double sinks near the centerline, and chart tables. A three-burner alcohol stove and oven were standard in the late 1970s.
The aft cabin is cramped, and some owners of Plan B boats found the quarter cabin stuffy. Even so, Practical Sailor’s survey found that a high percentage of owners lived aboard and considered the boat ideal for that purpose. The Endeavour 37 is comfortable both for cruising and living aboard.
Deck and Cockpit
The side decks are wide and uncluttered. Although the foredeck narrows at the bow, it provides adequate room for sail handling. Forward, the toerail rises into a mini-bulwark, adding security when changing sails or handling ground tackle.
High cockpit coamings provide a good backrest and a sense of protection. The cockpit itself is large—arguably too large for offshore sailing—and one owner found it too wide to brace his feet when the boat was heeled.
Several companies, including Bahamas Yachting Services, have successfully used the Endeavour 37 as a charter boat.
Known Issues
Owner reports and survey notes identified several recurring problems. In Practical Sailor’s survey, numerous owners complained of gelcoat crazing, a fault also cited on the Endeavour 32.
Other reported trouble spots included:
- Gate valves on through-hulls, which some owners correctly replaced with sea cocks
- Side-loading refrigerators on some boats that were later exchanged for top-loading ice boxes
- Pumping of the Isomat spar
- Inaccessible electrical wiring
- V-berths too short for anyone over six feet
- A tendency to list because of water- and holding-tank placement
- Plastic Vetus hatches that crazed and dripped
The Verdict
The Endeavour 37 is a straightforward, heavily built Florida cruiser that asks little of its operator. It suits sailors who value liveaboard space and passagemaking steadiness more than racing pace. For a cruising couple or liveaboard willing to accept modest upwind performance and a few dated details, it’s a sensible choice.
Pros
- Solid, single-skin hull with internal lead ballast and no keel bolts to maintain
- Two flexible interior plans with strong liveaboard appeal, plus standard pressure water and showers
- Simple, forgiving rig suited to less-experienced sailors
- Proven capability for safe ocean passages and charter service
Cons
- Marginal upwind performance, an underpowered sloop rig, and notable weather helm
- Gelcoat crazing and several dated hardware issues, including gate valves, Vetus hatches, and Isomat spar pumping
- Short V-berths, a cramped aft cabin, and a tendency to list because of tank placement
- An oversized cockpit and wide beam that some sailors find difficult to brace against when heeled
