1977 Endeavour 37

Name: Doug & Wendy Ousley tusharks@swbell.net
Boat Name: Windy Gale (formerly Sea Runner)
Year: 1977
Hull: 117
Size: 37' sloop, A-plan
Date Purchased: 2001

Previous Owner History:
Brian & Liz Stuart bought the boat new in 1977 then lived aboard for 24 years. They circumnavigated and made numerous trips to South America. The boat was previously called "Sea Runner".

Your Sailing Experience:
I had my first sailing experience at about the age of nine but I have only been a boat owner for the last 8 years. Wendy has been sailing for 3 years. Our last boat was a 1995 Hunter 19. We have also sailed J24's as well as Sunfish and Hobie 16's. We were also married by a licensed Capt. aboard a Brewer 42 off of Sanibel Island, Fl. (It's legal too/the Capt. is also a Notary Public!) We chartered a 62' CT cutter rigged ketch that we sailed in the BVI for our honeymoon!

Boat Review:
We heard a lot of so-so to downright negative reviews of the windward sailing characteristics and incidence of weather helm in the 37 prior to our purchase. Our thought was that if we had to sacrifice some sailing performance for a dependable blue water cruiser (our future plans) then so be it.

Either our boat is extremely well set up or we are just incredible sailors (doubt that), because we have virtually no weather helm and in 15-18 kts of wind have made 7.3 kts several times without effort. This as measured on a knot meter calibrated +/- .25 kts with a very accurate GPS. She will not sail as tight as boats with fin keels of course but we were told that anything above 60 degrees was a fantasy when, in fact she sails best at between 40 and 50 degrees to weather. Not a Ferrari but very respectable. She sails very well in light winds as well. This bearing in mind that we are well aware of the type of performance that can be attained from our J24 experience. The interior is well thought out and many of the changes that we planned to make were already worked out by the previous owner's as they lived what we are hoping to do.

Some negatives would be: The chain plates are arguably too small and difficult to access. (ours have access panels already installed by the previous owner's) The electrical system seems somewhat poorly thought out, not so much in it's construction but in it's layout.

The Perkins 4-108 is a great engine however due to the advances in diesel technology in the last 25 years we will be repowering with a new Yanmar in the next couple of years.

All in all, the quirks with this boat are a product of the personal preferences of the previous owner's more than any specific design flaws that would be worth mentioning here.

For the money, we think the Endeavour 37 is an exceptional value.