Express 37 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Schumacher and Alsberg built the 37 to American Bureau of Shipping scantlings using hand-layup combined with vacuum-bagging, a 3/4-inch balsa core in both hull and deck, and vinylester resin in the outer skin to ward off blistering anchor. 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 screws on six-inch centers. One whale strike on an ocean passage and a grounding at Alcatraz each reportedly bent only the keel. The advertised displacement was 9,500 pounds with 4,500 in the keel, though Schumacher said the finished standard boat weighed closer to 11,000.

Rig and Handling

The rig that defines the class is the so-called masthead-fractional: a large, low-aspect main mated to a small, high-aspect foretriangle, carried on a tapered aluminum Ballenger mast with Navtec rod rigging and double spreaders anchor. A hydraulic backstay tensions the headstay while running backstays shape the main. Helmsmen find the layout more forgiving than a pure fractional rig, and all halyards and sail controls lead aft to the companionway so one person can trim from inside. With a ballast ratio above 40 percent and a stiff, wide stern, the 37 is built for the windy conditions of San Francisco Bay and routinely posts double-digit speeds off the wind. She is extremely close winded and can be sailed safely short-handed even in gnarly offshore conditions.

Accommodations

Below, the standard layout is straightforward rather than luxurious: a V-berth or sail stowage forward, an enclosed head, a saloon with opposing settees that become pipe berths, and a starboard galley with a small stovetop and icebox. The sink sits amidships atop the engine box, awkwardly placed yet draining on either tack. Quarter berths flank the open aft section, which gives 360-degree engine access but little privacy. Teak-and-holly sole, ash and oak trim, and aircraft-like overhead compartments offset the plain molded fiberglass. The MK II, of which only 10 were built, reworked the interior with a real double V-berth, U-shaped galley, and an enclosed port quarter stateroom.

Known Issues

In some early hulls the mast-step bulkhead was adhered to the keel floor with 5200 adhesive, and that joint worked loose over time anchor. When class rules permitted Kevlar sails, loaded No. 1 genoa tracks flexed the deck and caused cracks; the fix was an aluminum backing plate under the track. Boats raced on San Francisco Bay ran the vang hydraulic line through a deck-level mast hole, and after five or six seasons several mast sections were found cracked there, leading Buzz Ballenger to build a reinforcing sleeve and route the hose aft through a sealed deck fitting.

Refits and Ownership

Most 37s left the factory with tillers, though a few MK IIs wore a 48-inch wheel and one owner fitted a 36-inch Edson on a transom-near binnacle. Before hull No. 25 the engine was a Yanmar 2GMF 18-horsepower two-cylinder; afterward Alsberg upgraded to the 3GMF 27-horsepower three-cylinder, which pushes the boat smartly. The open aft end makes engine access terrific, if loud down below under way.

The Verdict

The Express 37 is a purpose-bred ocean racer that translates 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 that for cruisers. Known structural quirks are well understood and cheaply fixed.

Pros