Overview
The Tartan 3700 is a Tim Jackett design built by Tartan from 1999, a performance cruiser sold alongside the larger 4100. Practical Sailor says both are well built enough that it would sail either across an ocean, though it favors the 4100 for offshore comfort.
Design and Construction
The hand-laid hull is solid fiberglass below the waterline and balsa-cored above it. Three keels were offered: a deep fin drawing 7 ft 3 in, a moderate-draft beavertail and a shoal-draft centerboard, all with a spade rudder. Displacement is about 15,950 lb with 6,000 lb of ballast. The laminate is vacuum-bagged mat and unidirectional E-glass with isophthalic and vinylester resins. Bulkheads and the floor grid are tabbed to the hull rather than set in a liner, and the hull-deck joint is bedded in 3M 5200 and through-bolted into an aluminum bar. Practical Sailor gives the range of positive stability as 125 degrees. Jackett’s aim was to match the interior volume and speed of the 4100 in a boat 4 feet shorter, so the 3700 has a bow entry angle less fine than the 4100’s and a rounder hull overall. Practical Sailor reports that in 2000 roughly 60 percent of Tartan’s production was the 3500, 3700 and 4100.
Under Sail
The masthead sloop has a double-spreader rig with slightly swept spreaders. Jackett predicted good light-air performance despite the 3700’s proportionally greater wetted surface. The side shrouds are set well inboard for close sheeting angles upwind. Practical Sailor was not able to sail the 3700, and based its performance expectations on Jackett’s design and the statistical indicators, which are nearly identical to the 4100’s.
Buyers Notes
Moving forward from the helm means stepping over the aft corner of a seat. The first ten boats had pipe berths amidships. Budget for touching up the teak handholds and toerails. The galley is to starboard with a pass-through to the aft suite, and the navigation station is to port facing forward, the arrangement Practical Sailor preferred over the 4100’s. The companionway is slightly offset, and the bow roller is a single stainless plate.
