Design and Character
Hood laid her out as an ultra-heavy-displacement cruiser: the displacement-length ratio sits at 508, a figure that categorizes her among "ultra heavy cruisers," and no similar sailboat designs are catalogued as heavier anchor. Her length-beam ratio of 3.52 makes her slimmer than 79 percent of comparable designs, while a ballast ratio of 26 percent is higher than only 3 percent of them. The Motion Comfort Ratio of 44.0 exceeds that of 99 percent of all similar sailboat designs, and the capsize screening value of 1.57 reflects a stowage-and-ballast profile suited to offshore work rather than speed. The immersion rate of about 936 pounds per inch tells you how stubbornly she holds her lines as load comes aboard.
Keel and Draft
The stub/centerboard keel gives a draft that runs between 4.49 and 4.79 feet depending on load, letting her tuck into shallow marinas that a fixed-keel 37 could not enter anchor. With the board up she draws little more than four and a half feet; the configuration is the versatile draft arrangement Hood favored for coastal and offshore cruising alike.
Rig and Sail Handling
She is rigged as a masthead sloop with a sail-area-displacement ratio of 13.86, a modest figure consistent with her heavy hull. The standing and running rigging lengths on file show an 11.3-meter jib and genoa sheet at 14 mm diameter, a 28.2-meter mainsheet of the same diameter, and a 24.8-meter spinnaker sheet anchor. Those dimensions give a buyer a sense of the control lines a crew works: long mainsheet travel, substantial genoa sheets, and a spinnaker sheet sized for a full cruising chute.
Performance Underway
The theoretical hull speed is 6.8 knots and the calculated maximum under power is about 5.4 knots, the latter bounded by the single 40-horsepower Vire diesel on a direct drive. Her wetted surface of roughly 398 square feet is large for the length, a consequence of the heavy hull form, and works against acceleration but steadies her in a seaway. The D/L and comfort numbers together describe a boat that absorbs motion rather than skips over it.
The Verdict
The Little Harbor 37 is a purpose-built heavy cruiser from Hood's early independent years. She rewards an owner who values motion comfort and shallow access over pace, and who is content with a modest sail-plan and a single small diesel. The centerboard arrangement is her defining virtue and her defining maintenance item.
Pros
- Centerboard keel gives 4.5-foot shallow draft for marina access
- Motion Comfort Ratio exceeds 99 percent of similar designs
- Ultra-heavy displacement provides steadiness and capsize resistance
Cons
- Sail-area-displacement ratio of 13.86 limits light-air performance
- Heavy displacement and large wetted surface blunt acceleration
- Low ballast ratio relative to peers (higher than only 3 percent)
