Fisher 37 MS Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The hull is a heavy-duty hand-laid fibreglass laminate with approximately six tons of cast iron ballast encapsulated inside the GRP keel and glassed over to become integral to the hull structure anchor. Transverse marine-plywood bulkheads are bonded to the hull and laminated to the deck, producing a stiff, integrated unit rather than a collection of glued panels. The deck is a heavy-duty hand-laid GRP moulding using balsa stiffening in all horizontal areas with plywood infills beneath deck fittings, and heavily stressed zones carry unidirectional glass reinforcement. Double-skin GRP bulwarks incorporating the hull-to-deck joint are moulded as part of the deck and capped with 25mm teak, while the joint itself is bonded and bolted throughout. Underwater fittings are mostly bronze, and the underwater section is finished in clear gel coat.

Rig and Handling

The 37 MS was offered with a sloop or ketch rig, the latter carrying a 24.62 m² main, 41.15 m² furling genoa and 12.63 m² mizzen against the sloop's 28.4 m² main. Standing rigging is heavy 1x19 stainless wire with stainless screws; running rigging is pre-stretched Terylene. A Furlex or similar roller-reefing gear was optional, and later revisions enlarged the sail plan by adding a bowsprit, raising the mast and fitting a staysail, with the ketch option gaining a self-tacking staysail track. Yachting Monthly noted genuine performance in the revised models built after 1986 anchor. The helm is a hydraulic system from a teak wheel in the wheelhouse, with emergency tiller steering in the cockpit. A 100 hp Perkins diesel — the builder's specification also cites a Yanmar 4JH110 of 110 hp — sits on rubber anti-vibration mounts on steel-reinforced glassfibre beds in a sound-proofed compartment, driving a stainless shaft and three-bladed bronze propeller through a water-lubricated cutlass bearing, with a zinc anode to curb stern-gear corrosion.

Accommodations

Below, the joinery is solid Ceylon teak and teak-veneered plywood, with teak parquet soles and foam-backed vinyl or carpet lining the hull sides to limit condensation. The forecabin has two full-length singles with a double infill and a chain locker forward; the separate toilet compartment to port carries a marine toilet, basin, granite work surface and a shower draining to a bilge sump, with sound-proofed access to the engine space. The main saloon offers an L-shaped port settee that converts to a berth, an extendable table and a starboard galley described by Yachting Monthly as huge, fitted with a two-burner cooker with oven and grill, fail-safe burners, twin sinks, top-opening refrigerator and granite surfaces with teak fiddles. A port quarter cabin holds a double berth. The wheelhouse is the social and steering heart: central console with helmsman's seat, port settee with chart space, starboard full-length settee with deep locker, and a folding table. Three sliding wheelhouse windows plus a wiper-equipped centre pane that drops for ventilation, and anodised aluminium-framed toughened-glass portlights throughout, keep the interior lit and dry.

Known Issues

The balsa-cored deck demands care: any penetration of the sandwich — for new fittings or repairs — must be sealed so water cannot reach the core. This is the one structural vulnerability inherent to the build, and a survey should scrutinise deck penetrations for evidence of moisture in the balsa anchor.

Refits and Ownership

Owners and the builder extended the rig and revised the layout over time, changes Northshore never formally recognised as separate marques. The standard later layout placed the owner's suite with heads forward and kept the large aft double. Through-hull count is kept low by routing wastewater to a central grey-water sump pumped overboard, simplifying the underwater profile. Tankage is generous: a single 100-gallon stainless diesel tank below the cockpit sole and two GRP freshwater tanks totalling 100 gallons under the forward and saloon soles. Two banks of 12v batteries give roughly 400 amp-hours, with colour-coded wiring and circuit breakers.

The Verdict

The Fisher 37 MS is a substantially built, shelter-steering motorsailer whose encapsulated-ballast long keel and integrated deck structure suit long-range cruising, and whose later rig revisions brought real performance. The balsa-cored deck is the one area demanding disciplined maintenance.

Pros