Tayana 37 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Lineage

Perry drew the 37 with a shapely Baltic stern — borrowed heavily from Aage Nielsen’s Holger Danske, winner of the 1980 Bermuda Race — and scribed plank seams molded into the glass hull, with lavish teak above and below, as Practical Sailor recorded anchor. The hull itself is solid hand-laid GRP, with a long-keel profile and a cutaway forefoot beneath the waterline paired to a Constellation-type rudder rather than a traditional barn-door shape. At 36 feet 8 inches overall on a 31-foot waterline, with 11 feet 6 inches of beam and 22,500 pounds of displacement carrying 8,000 pounds of iron ballast, the boat reads as a heavy-displacement, full-keel cruiser widely regarded as a benchmark for bluewater voyaging.

Construction and Accommodation

Early hulls were laid up with a notably heavy solid-glass shell, a point of pride for many owners. Decks carried a teak overlay over a balsa or plywood core, and the interior is all teak — extensive solid joinery that examiners rated among the best seen, with flawless joints, paneled doors, and dovetailed drawers. Every boat was custom built, so no single standard interior existed, though a common arrangement placed a V-berth forward, head and lockers aft of it, a U-shaped settee to port in the main cabin, a straight settee and pilot berth to starboard, and a U-shaped galley to port with nav station and quarter berth to starboard. The interior probably sold more boats than any other feature.

Rig and Handling

The standard rig is a masthead cutter with wooden spars stepped on deck on a substantial compression column, but a ketch rig was also available, and boats were built with wood or aluminum spars, deck- or keel-stepped. Perry strongly recommended the aluminum cutter, and in contrast to the wooden spar — with its massive section, extremely thick walls, and a large knot spotted at spreader height on one mast examined — the aluminum rigs from France, New Zealand, and the U.S. are well proportioned anchor. With mid-boom sheeting the wooden spar bends like a rubber band, complicating mainsail shape, and the clew outhaul slide is far too flimsy for a boat this size. Perry drew an unusually high-aspect sailplan with significant mast rake, yielding good performance on all points; with the aluminum rig, a ball-bearing mainsheet traveler, and well-cut sails she is surprisingly fast. Despite a 33 percent ballast ratio she is not stiff, owing to heavy joiner and glasswork above the waterline raising the center of gravity — a tenderness Perry calls an asset that softens her roll. Many owners report substantial weather helm, and under 10 knots she can be sluggish, most relying on a large genoa or cruising chute.

Known Issues

The original black iron fuel and water tanks are a known age-related concern anchor. A 90-gallon black iron tank is mounted beneath the forward V-berth anchor; a full bow tank with heavy ground tackle produces noticeable bow-down trim, which is why owner pressure brought optional amidships tankage. The engine box removes completely for service, yet there is no easy access to the oil dipstick. The long staysail boom hinders moving forward across the bow, and the bowsprit platform’s double anchor rollers house CQRs but the standard staysail traveler is a bare stainless rod.

Refits and Ownership

Three engines have powered the 37 — the Yanmar 3QM30, Perkins 4-108, and Volvo MD17C, with the Yanmar later standard — and most boats carry 30 to 50 hp diesels, giving a sedate 5.5 to 6 knot cruise prone to squatting if pushed. Many originally came with stretchy, poor-shape Lam Sails of Hong Kong. The cockpit is small but seaworthy, with four-corner scuppers and seacocks; the lack of stern coaming lengthens the seats for on-deck sleeping at the cost of a wet helm in a following sea.

The Verdict

The Tayana 37 is a traditional-styled, heavily built Perry cruiser whose custom teak interiors and bluewater pedigree endure. She rewards patient light-air seamanship and careful tank and rig inspection over outright speed.

Pros