Jeanneau Selection 37 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Selection 37 stretches 11.35 m overall with a 10.9 m hull and a long waterline for her length, paired with a beam of 10.67 ft and a fin keel drawing 6.25 ft. Her ballast of 2,422 lbs in iron gives a ballast ratio near 24 percent, and the solid fiberglass hull wears a flat aft section with what the builder described as the finest of bows. The deck is likewise solid fiberglass, and the original deck arrangement is genuinely unusual: the highly original deck layout with its two companionway ladders, one serving the saloon and a separate one giving private access to the aft cabin. That dual-ladder layout is the structural expression of a boat meant to keep sleeping quarters apart from the main social space. The yachting press later classified her with a displacement-length ratio of 163, placing her among light racers rather than heavy cruisers, and an immersion rate near 1,098 lbs per inch speaks to a hull that responds quickly to loading.

Rig and Handling

Above the deck, the Selection 37 is built with a fractional rig and a fantastic sail area that the survey literature calls significantly overrigged — she carries more rig than 100 percent of comparable sailboats, with a sail-area-to-displacement figure of 20.43 and a 135-percent genoa pushing that to 24.5. Deck work is eased by well-thought-out fittings: every halyard is differentiated and falls within easy reach of the helmsman and crew in the cockpit, and the winches are arrayed aft so the crew works from the quarters rather than the mast. Running rig dimensions are generous — a 34.4 m mainsail halyard of 12 mm, a 27.2 m mainsheet of 14 mm — sized for the loads this powerful plan generates. In motion she can surf-ride and tease the 17-knot mark in the right conditions, though calculated and theoretical maxima settle nearer 5.6 to 7.3 knots depending on the method used.

Accommodations

Below, the Selection 37 accommodates seven adults across three cabins and eight berths depending on version, with a saloon headroom of 1.80 m. The Owner's version places one double and two bunk berths in the aft cabin reached by its own ladder, while the Royale Tour de France à la Voile edition substitutes four bunk berths aft. A central gangway leads from the saloon to the toilet compartment and the navigation area, and the galley is fitted with its full share of units. Storage is ample and convenient, and the Owner's saloon table seats the entire complement at ease. The manufacturer framed the interior as inheriting the qualities that earned the Jeanneau range its reputation for sea-going pleasure.

Known Issues

The only cautions come from her performance classification: a capsize screening value of 1.98 places her outside the threshold accepted for ocean racing, meaning she is a coastal and offshore cruiser rather than a recognized racer in that regime. Her draft of roughly 6.25 ft limits her to major marinas.

Refits and Ownership

Ownership of a Selection 37 means living with a shaft-drive diesel of 18 hp and 10 gallons of fuel, 15.6 gallons of water, and a boat whose 251-unit production run ended in 1991. The light-racer character and overrigged sail plan reward an owner who keeps running rig inspected and replaced on schedule; the 12 mm halyards and 14 mm sheets are consumables sized for real loads. The two-ladder deck layout preserves privacy but means two sealing rings and two companionway structures to maintain over a 30-plus-year service life.

The Verdict

The Selection 37 is a thoughtfully split-personality Jeanneau: a light, powerful fractional sloop with a cockpit-oriented rig and a private-aft-cabin interior that punches above her length in accommodation. She is quick, roomy for seven, and unusual in layout, but her draft and capsize screening confine her to sheltered and coastal cruising rather than bluewater racing.

Pros