The first three hulls finished first, second, and third in class in the 1985 Transpac, a West Coast ocean race. A total of 65 boats were eventually built, and active fleets have remained on both the East and West coasts ever since. Writing in Sailing Magazine, one reviewer called the Express 37 an off-the-wind rocket ship, big enough and tough enough for long-distance offshore racing.
Design and Construction
Schumacher and Alsberg built the Express 37 to American Bureau of Shipping scantlings. Construction combined hand layup with vacuum-bagging, using a 3/4-inch balsa core in both the hull and deck and vinylester resin in the outer skin to ward off blistering.
Practical Sailor inspectors found no structural failures or gelcoat crazing on boats that had spent years racing, and the hull is known for being virtually bulletproof. The deck is bonded to an inward flange with 3M 5200 and stainless-steel screws on six-inch centers. In two reported incidents—a whale strike during an ocean passage and a grounding at Alcatraz—only the keel bent.
Advertised displacement was 9,500 pounds, with 4,500 pounds in the keel, although Schumacher said a finished standard boat weighed closer to 11,000 pounds.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The class-defining rig is the so-called masthead-fractional arrangement: a large, low-aspect mainsail paired with a small, high-aspect foretriangle. It’s carried on a tapered aluminum Ballenger mast with Navtec rod rigging and double spreaders. A hydraulic backstay tensions the headstay, while running backstays shape the main.
Helmsmen find this arrangement more forgiving than a pure fractional rig. All halyards and sail controls lead aft to the companionway, allowing one person to trim from inside. With a ballast ratio above 40 percent and a stiff, wide stern, the Express 37 was built for the windy conditions of San Francisco Bay. It routinely posts double-digit speeds off the wind, is extremely close-winded, and can be sailed safely short-handed even in gnarly offshore conditions.
Accommodations
The standard interior is straightforward rather than luxurious. Forward, there’s either a V-berth or sail stowage, followed by an enclosed head. The saloon has opposing settees that convert to pipe berths, while the starboard galley includes a small stovetop and icebox.
The sink sits amidships atop the engine box. It’s awkwardly placed, but it drains on either tack. Quarter berths flank the open aft section, an arrangement that provides 360-degree engine access at the cost of privacy. A teak-and-holly sole, ash and oak trim, and aircraft-like overhead compartments soften the otherwise plain molded-fiberglass interior.
Only 10 MK IIs were built. This version revised the accommodations with a real double V-berth, a U-shaped galley, and an enclosed port quarter stateroom.
Engines, Steering, and Access
Most Express 37s left the factory with tillers. A few MK IIs had a 48-inch wheel, and one owner installed a 36-inch Edson wheel on a binnacle near the transom.
Before hull No. 25, the standard engine was a Yanmar 2GMF 18-horsepower two-cylinder. Alsberg then upgraded to the 3GMF 27-horsepower three-cylinder, which pushes the boat smartly. The open aft end provides terrific engine access, though it also makes the interior loud while under way.
Known Issues
On some early hulls, the mast-step bulkhead was bonded to the keel floor with 5200 adhesive, and the joint worked loose over time.
When class rules allowed Kevlar sails, the heavily loaded No. 1 genoa tracks flexed the deck and caused cracks. The fix was an aluminum backing plate beneath the track.
Express 37s raced on San Francisco Bay also ran the vang’s hydraulic line through a hole in the mast at deck level. After five or six seasons, several mast sections were found cracked at that point. Buzz Ballenger responded by building a reinforcing sleeve and routing the hose aft through a sealed deck fitting.
The Verdict
The Express 37 is a purpose-built ocean racer that turns its racing DNA into a forgiving, stiff, and genuinely fast 37-footer with a tough, balsa-cored hull. The standard interior is spartan and open, but the MK II addressed those shortcomings for cruisers. Its known structural quirks are well understood and inexpensive to fix.
Pros
- Swept the class podium in the 1985 Transpac straight from the mold
- Stiff, virtually bulletproof balsa-cored hull built to ABS scantlings
- Fast masthead-fractional rig that’s more forgiving than a pure fractional rig
- All controls led aft for safe short-handed sailing
- Terrific 360-degree engine access through the open aft section
Cons
- Early bulkhead bonding and deck-track cracks require inspection
- Standard interior lacks privacy and creature comforts
- Deck-level mast-hose routing on boats raced in San Francisco Bay caused mast cracks after several seasons
