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Tartan 37
I have raced against Tartan 37''s at the club level and cruise racing level. Their rating is generally set higher than it should because of the Tartan 37''s upwind ability in moderate air, which is actually pretty good. The problem is they are not that fast in light air or on other points of sail, so they are racing against a pretty stiff rating, especially in point to point racing where there tends to be a lot of reaching conditions and where more modern designs really excel. The Tartan 37''s stern is really shaped wrong for fast reaching speed. Her pinched transom results in a comparatively short run and sharply radiused aft buttock lines, which when combined with a the Tartan''s short waterline spell comparatively slow reaches.
They seem to do better in spinacker class races than in non-spin if there is a dead downwind leg. They have a comparatively large chute and with the board up, comparatively little drag and so can point dead down making pretty good VMG.
That does not apply in heavier winds where lighter boats can also point close to dead down and begin to surf or worse yet plane. That also does not apply in light air where the Tartan 37''s bulk hurts her.
So, unfortunately, even with a rating in the mid to high 130''s, (only 20 something sec''s a mile slower than the 3800 or 38) it is hard to do really well with the Tartan 37 as a race boat, except when the conditions are perfect. On the other hand these boats have their virtues off the race course that make them very appealing as cruisers in shoal draft venues.
Regards
Jeff
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