Etap 37

[Sneaky Pete]

Looking for an opinion as to the merits of owning an Etap 37. I have looked at the reviews, how it is made, tests on sailing it when filled with water, but how does the boat sail from an owners point. Are there better out there for similar money that would sail in open and coastal waters. Are there any views on he boat.

 

[Tranona]

sans bateau who posts here used to have one. User name is because he sold it last year!

 

[Sneaky Pete]

sans bateau who posts here used to have one. User name is because he sold it last year!

It does not tell me much could be looking for another, however if his username was Se débarrasser de la merde bateau then I would understand.

 

[jwilson]

I like the Etaps, but more because of the thoughtful and clever detailing of the design/build and usually light-finished interiors than any particular merits as sailing yachts. It's a modern cruiser with a slight slant to the performance end of the spectrum. At 37 ft there's enough boat for you not to notice too much the inevitable loss of interior volume from the foam buoyancy.

 

[Tranona]

It does not tell me much could be looking for another, however if his username was Se débarrasser de la merde bateau then I would understand.

Worth contacting him as he is a mine of information on Etaps and only sold because he is retiring from sailing. boat was featured in articles in PBO.

 

[Ric]

I almost bought one a few years ago, but was eventually discouraged by how difficult they are to modify and add equipment to, due to all the internal foam compartments and sandwich deck. If you are the sort of person who never tinkers, not a problem, but not for me...

 

[Sneaky Pete]

I have looked into this and Etap do put some sort of ducting into the foam for this reason, modifications. Unfortunately this does not always allow the cable, pipe or whatever to go direct and can result in more material being used than anticipated. The foam is not a problem when modifying or adding merely an opportunity to finish the job.

 

[Crowblack]

I almost bought one a few years ago, but was eventually discouraged by how difficult they are to modify and add equipment to, due to all the internal foam compartments and sandwich deck. If you are the sort of person who never tinkers, not a problem, but not for me...

As an owner I disagree, as jwilson said above the thoughtful detailing goes as far as providing conduits between the skins to run additional instruments.

I've added chart table and cockpit MFD's, radar, navtex, yeoman, AIS, rerun VHF cable from masthead to chart table and a new 2000 backbone - very easy to do.

Etap were indeed "thoughtful" builders and whilst they did not aim for the "prestige" end of the spectrum like say HR she's nicely made and there's very little on my boat (a 2004 32s) I can't get at to repair - doing virtually all the work myself.

The 37s IMO is a particularly nice boat and had great write ups when launched.

 

[Ric]

That's interesting information Crowblack thank you. It puts the 37s back on the list.

What is the keel material on the 37S - lead or cast iron?

 

[Rafiki]

I have no direct experience of the 37, but I did look at the 36? a couple of years ago. The problem was it was small inside with little storage space, the reason? All that foam reduced the interior volume significantly and furthermore some spaces which would normally have lockers ( under the aft berths for example) didn't exist and were simply filled with foam.
Better to buy another marque and a good quality liferaft!

 

[Tin Tin]

Looking for an opinion as to the merits of owning an Etap 37. I have looked at the reviews, how it is made, tests on sailing it when filled with water, but how does the boat sail from an owners point. Are there better out there for similar money that would sail in open and coastal waters. Are there any views on he boat.

We owned an Etap 38i (predecessor of the 37s) for three years.

What can I say? 'It seemed like a good idea at the time' just about sums it up.

Reasons I didn't like it?
- As mentioned by others: not much internal storage.
- All this extra buoyance means they 'high' on the water. Not a very sea-kindly boat. Prone to slamming. SWMBO is prone to the dreaded mal de mer. Every time we went out in anything above F4 I watched her turn pale/green before she retired down below. As most of our sailing was as a couple you can imagine this was not a lot of fun.
- Quality of the joinery. After a particular 'slammy' Channel crossing all the lockers above the forward bunk had come down.

Point I did like:
- It was a very dry/very well insulated boat.