Review of Condor 37 (S&S)

Condor 37 (S&S) anno 1979. Condor 37 Kara, River Medway, UK 2021. 9.7ton loaded with gear, 1.8l ford industrial marinised engine, max prop, 10mm wire standing rigging, cruising chute, spinnaker, furling genoa, wheel steering, radar, 250l water, 80l diesel, 60m anchor chain, 2 hea

Basic specs.

The Condor 37 (S&S) is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Sparkman & Stephens in the late seventies. The Condor 37 (S&S) is built by the British yard Midocean Marine Penryn.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

The boat is equipped with one cabin, 6 berths and 150.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Cockpit

Cockpit of Condor 37 (S&S) anno 1979.

Rig

Rig of Condor 37 (S&S). Condor 37 Kara, Eastbourne, UK

The Condor 37 (S&S) is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

Keel of Condor 37 (S&S) anno 1979. Condor 37 Kara, Eastbourne, UK

Fin keel

The Condor 37 (S&S) is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.01 - 2.11 meter (6.59 - 6.89 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Condor 37 (S&S) may be equipped with an inboard Westerbeke engine

The fuel tank has a capacity of 160.0 liters (42 US gallons, 35 imperial gallons).

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Condor 37 (S&S) is 1.85, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.2 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Condor 37 (S&S) is about 206 kg/cm, alternatively 1154 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 206 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1154 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Condor 37 (S&S) is 29.5.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 54% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Condor 37 (S&S) is 3.31.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 54% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Condor 37 (S&S) is 63%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 100% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Condor 37 (S&S) is 305 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.

27% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 16.47

Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 36m² (387 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

Rig

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Jib sheet	11.7 m	(38.4 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	11.7 m	(38.4 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.2 m	(96.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	25.7 m	(84.4 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Condor 37 (S&S) it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.