Tayana 37, a Robert (Bob) Perry design
"There are more Tayana 37’s cruising offshore than an other single design according to George Day, the Editor of BLUE WATER CRUISING."The noted Northwest sailboat designer, Robert (Bob) Perry, designed the Tayana 37. It's like the old TIMEX commercial, "It can take a licking and still keeps on ticking", the Tayana 37 is built for circumnavigation or sailing where help isn't readily available and your vessel must be able to survival a knockdown or rollover. "Seaworthiness is the sum of all the factors which make a boat able to remain at sea and survive about anything that comes along. The hull must be strong and tight, the deck structures must be able to withstand the pounding of boarding seas, and the deck openings must be located so that the boat cannot be flooded, even in a knockdown. The rig must be strong against failure in severe weather conditions, and even survive knockdowns and rollovers, God forbid. The ballast must be secured so that it cannot shift under any circumstances. So, seaworthiness is a condition brought about by combining many strong features into a strong whole, and cannot be conjured up simply by a designer drawing the right lines on paper."Quote by the late Joel White, one of the best American ship designers. The term "Bluewater" boat is a vague term. It used to mean a seaworthy offshore design that was strong enough to withstand the pounding of a storm. Now days it could mean a fast light to medium displacement fin keel spade rudder sloop.Selecting an offshore sailboat is usually based on personal preference and intended use. Long distance cruisers sailing short-handed, tend to prefer full-keel sailboats instead of deep fin keel sailboats because they spend most of their time sailing hours on end in the open ocean without tacking. If you are going to spend more time near shore and doing a lot of tacking and sailing to windward, then a fin keel or shoal draft keel sloop will be more maneuverable then a full-keel sailboat. If you plan on staying at a marina where you can recharge your batteries, you can get all the electrically powered gadgets to make it easy to sail shorthanded. Most long-range cruisers limit their dependence on electrical gadgets, because if it fails they might not be able to fix it or be near civilization to get the parts to fix it; they try to keep it simple.Most conventional extended offshore cruisers don't have the "Sugar Scoop" transoms. When running in heavy seas a traditional canoe transom like the Tayana 37 provides sufficient volume for reserve buoyancy allowing the stern to effectively become your bow while running before a storm. A sugar scoop transoms found on light to medium displacement sloops, while allowing easy access for swimming and boarding a dinghy, will submarine and be swamped by a following wave in a storm. Most traditional extended offshore cruisers limit the cross-sectional area of their portholes and hatches to limit the amount of water that can enter if a boarding wave hits the vessel. The modern light to medium displacement sailboats have "Picture Window" or portlights to allow more natural light below decks.Most traditional extended offshore cruisers have sea berths with Lee cloths since they will be sailing 24/7 even in heavy weather. During heavy weather sailing, it's impossible to sleep on the wide "Queen" size beds on the production light displacement sailboats.Most traditional extended offshore cruisers have small cockpits; it's easier to brace yourself during heavy weather. Most modern production sailboats have wide cockpits to entertain their guest when they are not sailing.The bottom line, you have to find a sailboat that fits the type of sailing you are comfortable with. You can find a full-keel ketch that's perfect for offshore, but it's slow and doesn't point as well as a sloop and is less maneuverable in the close quarters of a marina because it's meant to be sailed on the open ocean for hours on end without tacking. You can find a fin keel spade rudder sloop that handles like a sport's car when compared to a full-keel sailboat, but it will be pounding the hell of out of you in the open ocean if you get caught in really bad weather. A fin keel spade rudder sloop is faster than a full keel skeg hung rudder sailboat and with proper weather planning you can avoid the bad weather. Sailing down from New England to Bermuda or even the Caribbean doesn't require a true offshore designed sailboat. Most modern production fin keel or shoal draft sloop would work, since you are near the East Coast and within range of a safe harbor. If you are interested in the Tayana 37, you can checkout the Tayana owners group.Fair Winds,ClydeTayana owner's grouphttp://tognews.com/