Tartan 34 C

Overview

The Tartan 34 C is Sparkman & Stephens’ 1968 design for Tartan Marine (S&S Design No. 1904), a keel-centerboard cruiser that became one of the best-selling boats of its era, 525 hulls built through 1978. Tartan later reused the “34” name for an unrelated 1984 design, so the market commonly calls this earlier boat the “34 C,” for Classic, to keep the two apart.

Design and Construction

The centerboard arrangement gives real range: 3.92 ft with the board up for shoal cruising grounds, a notably deep 8.33 ft down for windward performance and stability, an unusually wide spread for a boat this size. At 11,200 lb displacement with a 45 percent ballast ratio, it’s a solidly built, moderately heavy cruiser for its length, with a skeg-mounted rudder for protection. A yawl rig was advertised as a factory option alongside the standard masthead sloop; the mainsail foot was also shortened more than once across the production run to improve the boat’s IOR handicap rating.

Under Sail

The design’s inclusion in two separate curated cruising-boat lists, Practical Sailor’s The Best Used Boat Notebook and John Vigor’s Twenty Affordable Sailboats to Take You Anywhere, reflects real regard among cruisers evaluating boats for extended voyaging, though neither documents a specific completed passage. Practical Sailor’s reviewer notes that, like most centerboarders, the Tartan 34 is quite a bit faster downwind than upwind, with a PHRF rating of about 168 to 174. Because of the shoal draft the center of gravity is fairly high, so she is initially more tender than a modern deep-keel boat. Owners report using the board to ease the helm when reaching in heavy conditions.

Buyers Notes

As with most centerboard boats of this era, the centerboard pendant, pivot pin, and trunk are worth close inspection for wear, corrosion, or leaks. The original Universal Atomic 4 gasoline engine has long since needed replacement or rebuilding on most surviving hulls; confirm the engine’s history and any repower on survey. Practical Sailor’s owner surveys turned up gelcoat crazing on the deck molding, mostly at the foredeck and forward end of the cabin trunk, and delamination of the balsa-cored deck, so the magazine advises tapping every square inch of the deck with a plastic mallet. Early boats have brass pipe nipples glassed into the hull with gate valves, which the reviewer calls unacceptable in salt water and says should be replaced with bronze or reinforced plastic seacocks. A Farymann R-30-M diesel was an option from 1975.