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The Pacific Seacraft 37 is a classic
American sailboat with an honesty of
design that, combined with the highest
standards of boatbuilding as attested
to by ABS certification for hull and
deck construction and CE certification
for unlimited offshore use, has shown
the sailing industry that there is a
place in the hearts and budgets of sailors
for a boat created expressly to go to
sea and bring the crew back safely.
 The
37's measurements answer to no marketing
study. On a hull of just an inch short
of 37 feet, the beam is 10 feet, 10
inches, which makes this an easily driven,
comparatively narrow hull that combines
the comfortable motion of a 16,000-pound
displacement boat with a turn of speed
that has endeared the Pacific Seacraft
37 to its ocean-crossing owners.
Owners may be first attracted to the
37 by its eye-catching lines, but much
of the enduring respect for the boat
derives from its immense strength. Such
details as bulkheads that are bonded
to both the deck and hull and hand-laid
fiberglass construction employing a
robust lay-up schedule give the 37's
hull the feel of a bank vault - a seagoing
bank vault with all the comforts of
home, that is.
The Pacific Seacraft 37 was designed
by a man whose skills encompass sailing,
designing boats and writing about his
experiences on the water. W.I.B. "Bill"
Crealock, whose books Vagabonding Under
Sail and Cloud of Islands chronicled
eight years of cruising, grew up sailing
in small open boats in the challenging
waters of England.
The 37 was one of the first offshore
cruising sailboats designed with a split-appendage
underbody. The design maintains the
desirable characteristics of a long
keel without the excessive wetted area
of a true full-keel hull. The skeg-hung
rudder contributes strength and good
steering response. The canoe stern,
besides being a thing of beauty, is,
according to Crealock, "a potential
bow; for when the weather is truly bad,
it is the stern which will bear most
of its venom."
The design was commissioned in the 1970s
by a company that went broke before
the first 37 was built. A boatbuilding
concern named Cruising Consultants then
bought the molds and built 16 of the
boats.
In 1980, Pacific Seacraft acquired the
molds, and began steady production of
Crealock 37, changing the name in 1993
to Pacific Seacraft 37. Under the two
names, the boat has been in continuous
production for 24 years, and has a backlog
of orders.
In an evaluation of the boat, SAILING
Magazine's John Kretschmer wrote: "The
Pacific Seacraft 37 is a nearly perfect
cruising boat for a couple. The interior
may seem small when compared to more
modern designs, but the point of cruising
isn't to bring all your worldly goods
with you; it's to leave them behind.
The boat is well constructed and brilliantly
designed."
If you donít see a Pacific Seacraft
the next time you walk through a marina,
it will probably be Pacific Seacraft
37s tend to be mainly at sea, where
they belong. They have logged hundreds
of thousands of miles, carrying crews
on circumnavigations and on extended
voyages on most of the worldís
oceans.
Hull number 263 of this timeless design
will soon be launched, and there is
no sign of diminishing demand for a
boat whose gorgeous lines, exceptionally
strong hull and rig and meticulous finish
have made boat ownership a love affair
for those fortunate enough to possess
a Pacific Seacraft 37.
Greg Jones, SAILING
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