The Crealock 37, also called the Pacific Seacraft 37, is an American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

that was designed by British

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W. I. B. Crealock as a cruiser and first built in 1978.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 298-299. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. In 2002, the boat was admitted to the American Sailboat Hall of Fame.

Production

The design was initially commissioned and intended to be built by Clipper Marine in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, as the Clipper Marine 37, but the company went out of business before production commenced. In 1978 the design was produced by Cruising Consultants Inc. of Newport Beach, California, under the name ''Crealock 37''. In 1980 the design was acquired and put into production by

Pacific Seacraft Pacific Seacraft Corporation is a Washington, North Carolina based sailboat manufacturer specializing in fiberglass monohull cruising boats. Pacific Seacraft is best known for producing the Crealock line of sailboats. These are heavy, overbuilt of ...

Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,744 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is commonly known as "Original W ...

as the ''Pacific Seacraft 37'' and it remained in production in 2020.

Design

The Crealock 37 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, with a plywood core, with wood trim. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, ...

rig, with an optional

cutter rig A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...

rig, with a mizzen mast. It features a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a raised canoe transom, a

skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...

-mounted

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

controlled by a wheel and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. It displaces and carries of lead ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel and with the optional shoal draft keel. The boat is fitted with a

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or, on later models, a

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

4JH2E

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for docking and maneuvering. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The design has sleeping accommodation for up to seven people. There is an angled "V" berth in the bow, a double and single settee berth in the main salon and a double berth in the stern, along with a quarter berth. The galley is located at the foot of the

companionway In the architecture of a ship, a companion or companionway is a raised and windowed hatchway in the ship's deck, with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main cabins. A companionway may be secured by doors or, commonly in ...

steps, on the starboard side. It includes a double sink, a three-burner stove and oven and a top-loading refrigerator. The head is located forward, just aft of the bow cabin, on the starboard side and includes a shower. A navigation station is provided aft, on the port side. The design has below deck headroom of . Ventilation is provided by two cabin hatches. The

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

is sheeted to short jib tracks. The

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

is mounted on the coach house roof, as are three winches. There are also two primary jib winches mounted on the cockpit coamings. The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 174.

Operational history

The design was named to the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2002. The citation says, in part, "The Pacific Seacraft 37 is a classic American sailboat with an honesty of design that, combined with the highest standards of boatbuilding as attested to by ABS certification for hull and deck construction and CE certification for unlimited offshore use, has shown the sailing industry that there is a place in the hearts and budgets of sailors for a boat created expressly to go to sea and bring the crew back safely." In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote that the "underwater lines show a very normal fin keel, but the canoe stern is unusual. The cutter rig shown does not indicate stay sails, Maximum beam is aft." John Kretschmer wrote in a 2008 review for ''Sailing Magazine'', "downwind, the cutter is not particularly efficient, and some type of drifter or cruising spinnaker is necessary to maintain speed in light air. When the wind pipes ups, the 37 finds its stride, even when a large sea is running. Several owners have reported touching double digits while surfing down trade wind seas. Long passages that average better than 150 miles per day are common. However, the most underrated performance factor is seakindliness, as nothing wears out the crew or the gear faster than a quick, pounding motion. The Pacific Seacraft 37 is a "swisher" not a "pounder."". In a 2011 review in ''Cruising World'', Jeremy McGeary wrote, "it was built as a cutter and as a yawl. I fear the yawl might be a bit busy around the cockpit. I like the cutter rig for its versatility upwind and reaching. I’d dispense with a big genoa and use a modern asymmetric for extra downwind sail area."

References

External links

* {{Pacific Seacraft Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Boats designed by W. I. B. Crealock Sailboat types built by Pacific Seacraft Sailboat types built by Cruising Consultants Inc.

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links