Jeanneau

dwcarrier · #1 03-04-2004

I''m looking at the Jeanneau 37'' SO. Can someone give advice? Why are there so few on the pre-owned listings?
Former Coronado 25 owner..

Sasha_V · #2 03-05-2004

We just got to sail one this weekend. It is the boat that friends of ours bought after selling their Farr38. This new boat is much much more comfortable and seaworthy then the Farr, whih basically had a tendancy to roll like a metronome in even very light seas and fall of waves that you could not even see with a crash and a shudder (and he did know how to set the boat up right, he came through the 98 sydney-hobart unscathed to win his class and has several melbourne-hobart wins to his credit in this boat. It just happens to be an uncomfortable piece of crap).

The Jen is likely not quite as fast...but is much more happy-making to live with, which he thinks may well equate to better crew performance and confidence allowing the speed to come back up there.

The fit-out is nice, not really to my taste but competent in that middle-of-the-range sports-car sort of way.

Sasha

Jeff_H · #3 03-06-2004

With all due respect, I wanted to clarify your points about the Farr 38. When you say, that the Farr 38 had a "tendancy to roll like a metronome in even very light seas and fall of waves that you could not even see with a crash and a shudder." and with an uncomfortable interior, I assume that you are refering to the IOR era 38 foot Farr one tonners, and not the later Farr 11.6 both of which are sometimes called Farr 38''s. The Farr 38 (IOR one tonners) were grand prix IOR era race boats. The Farr 11.6 was actually a cruising boat with a very nice interior layout (except that some of them have been stripped out to go racing).

The Farr 38 (IOR one tonners)were an entirely different boat which had very high vertical centers of gravity (They were originally designed to have centerboards) which can result in the kind of rolling that you describe and like most IOR boats of that era have a flat forward that I can imagine would pound in any kind of seaway. Quite a few of these are still out there and as you note they are quite uncomfortable, not especially seaworthy and not all that well finished.

The Farr 11.6''s were designed as offshore cruisers. Their forward sections are sharply Vee''d and fairly fine resulting an in amazingly smooth motion even in a steep chop. They have a comparatively high ballast ratio carried fairly low in a deep cast lead keel. I have not seen a tendancy toward excessive roll on the Farr 11.6 even when lying a hull, beam to, in a steep chop, and farnklly have been extremely impressed with the comfort of the boat''s motion and its poise in heavier going. Individual examples have done circumnavigations and still pretty routinely do transatlantic passages. At 20 years old, these boats are still very popular boats in places like Capetown S.A. where they routinely sail in the heavy conditions found offshore there. They have an interior that is set up for offshore sailing and so it does tend to be a little cramped compared to a modern 38 footer that is oriented towards coastal cruising, where they can tolerate greater beam and freeboard and storage, and foot and hand holds are less important, but on the other hand the interior is enormous for a 10,600 lb offshore capable boat.

Respectfully,
Jeff

Sasha_V · #4 03-06-2004

You are indeed correct. I have sailed aboard a Yacht named Escapade, which is marked as a Farr IMS and is definately of a size with the older boats I spoke of. The "ride" was much smoother (it was only a five hour thing in fairly perfect weather). Yeah, to be honest I had actually just never classed the boats I complained about and escapade intot he same category in my mind because they behaved so differently.

The "rolly" boats are considerably older then Escapade (though I do not have the knowledge to discuss specific design plans, etc). The only thing that goes against what you said was the fitout in one of them. Unlike te spartan (to say the least) "Das Boot" interior of the others, One of the older boats I have sailed on had an absolutely gorgeous factory fitout as a cruiser/racer. Just tons of design time and quality workmanship spent on the getting everything to a high standaerd of gleaming wood-lined luxery. The four days on board with that fitout almost (almost...) made up for the boat''s bloody awful feel under sail.

I think what you wrote is likely dead-on accurate. Well done.

dwcarrier · #5 03-07-2004

Jeff H, you seem to know lots about all types of boats, so what''s your take on the Jen S.O.''S. Interested in hearing. I was also looking at the J''s (for speed and quality) but not a racer and room does not lend it self to week-long crusing.

Jeff_H · #6 03-08-2004

I have not seen the Jeanneau SO 37 in real life so it is a little difficult to comment on them very specifically. I have never been a fan of Jeanneau''s build quality or design quality. I understand that since they have been bought by Beneteau, that the quality control, engineering, and designs have been improved some over the earlier boats.

The S.O. 37 looks like it has been optimized for comfort down below and lounging on the anchor, rather than for performance and seaworthiness. The full sections would tend towards a more rolly motion and harsher impact with waves than a boat with finer bow sections a more moderate waterline amidships and aft. On the shoal draft model I would be concerned that the rudder depth seems to be equal to or deeper than the keel depth.

The rig looks very dated and seems to be designed around freeing up the cockpit rather than ease of sail handling or dealing with shifts in windspeed. This would be an unnecessarily difficult rig to deal with in a building wind.

The S.O. 37''s appear to be aimed at the opposite end of the design spectrum from the J-109 or Beneteau First 36.7 which are more biased towards performance cruising and ease of handling.

Jeff

Jeff_H · #7 03-08-2004

I have not seen the Jeanneau SO 37 in real life so it is a little difficult to comment on them very specifically. I have never been a fan of Jeanneau''s build quality or design quality. I understand that since they have been bought by Beneteau, that the quality control, engineering, and designs have been improved some over the earlier boats.

The S.O. 37 looks like it has been optimized for comfort down below and lounging on the anchor, rather than for performance and seaworthiness. The full sections would tend towards a more rolly motion and harsher impact with waves than a boat with finer bow sections a more moderate waterline amidships and aft. On the shoal draft model I would be concerned that the rudder depth seems to be equal to or deeper than the keel depth.

The rig looks very dated and seems to be designed around freeing up the cockpit rather than ease of sail handling or dealing with shifts in windspeed. This would be an unnecessarily difficult rig to deal with in a building wind.

The S.O. 37''s appear to be aimed at the opposite end of the design spectrum from the J-109 or Beneteau First 36.7 which are more biased towards performance cruising and ease of handling.

Jeff

JHodor · #8 03-16-2004

From what I know I think this model came out around 1998 or around that time. It won some top 10 or boat of the year in class award from one of the magazines on it''s debut. That can be political but it has to be pretty decent to get the award (a google search will answer that). There''s got to be some owners website (do a search) and then ask some of the owners of those boats. I can''t say if it''s better than a beneteau after they bought them, but at least your a little different than all those beneteau catalina hunters on the water. You will be more "unique" good or bad,when it comes to resell time as most brokers will show all boats in class and price range therefore your boat will be a unique one. I know when I was shopping I was so sick of all the hunter, catalina, Benenteau oceanis, etc listings. I was just happy to have them show me something different. This is why I don''t drive a Honda, they are good cars but every person on earth seems to have driven one. That is why I roll the dice with a landrover. Look at one with a Jeanneau dealer and ask the questions you need to know. I am told they are built differently than a beneteau with a grid system that may be preffered, but then again Jeanneau''s are a little more money. When the beneteau groupe bought them the quality of both companies boats went up a lot. They bought a competitor and left them intact with their own idenity so something must have been going right, that''s interesting. Get many opinions and not all from the same place and not all from the dealer. Good luck. try to sail one.

doubleplay · #9 03-18-2004

Biggest buyers of Jeanneau SO and Beneteau Oceanis series are charter companies or like minded private owners.They are not very different from each other in terms of built quality and sailing performance.
They are mainly designed for people who spends a lot of time on the hook or marina and they have undersized rigs so that beginners or charterers dont get overwhelmed.
If you are after performance take a look at boats like J,Dehler,Beneteau First Series or even Jeanneau Sun Fast series.
If you are going to spend less time sailing and more time on the hook and don''t care about performance or sail handling characteristics Jeanneau SO 37 might be a good choice.However keep your expectations reasonable so you wont get dissapointed.Unfortunately when it comes to buying boats most of the time what you pay is what you get....
Good Luck