In the two years I've been working for Cruising World, I've seen my fair share of new boats. I've had the opportunity to tour daydream-inspiring cruisers like the
Alerion Express 33 and the
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45 DS. Once in a while, I even get to take a ride on a speedster like the
Lightspeed 32. In all these instances, I left behind lovely, sparkling boats destined for proud owners I'd probably never meet.
That's why I was extra excited when Fred and Marilyn Hunger offered me a ride on
TrueNorth, their brand-new Tartan 3700. Not only would I get to sail on a cool new boat, but I might get to sail on it again. See, the Hungers are longtime family friends, so they'd have a hard time denying me a follow-up cruise.
Fred called around noon; I needed to be at the airport by 3. Time would not be a problem. We met at the dock at the Cleveland Yachting Club an hour later, fired up the engine, cast off the docklines, and headed out the Rocky River towards Lake Erie. The 3700 is equipped for serious passagemaking, but it's just as good for daysailing. With two roller-furling headsails and a pocket boom, there were no sails to attach. And with an electric winch, there would be no heavy grinding (welcome news to the author, rendered mostly useless by a boisterous wedding celebration the night before (thanks a lot, Dr. and Mrs. Daniel McCarthy)).
Marilyn and Fred Hunger (couple on the left) treat
John and Mary Lovett to a Sunday cruise aboard their
Tartan 3700 TrueNorth. The boat was built in
Fairport Harbor, Ohio, which, had this photo been
taken in extreme panorama mode, might be visible
on the left side of the horizon.
Once we cleared the breakwater, I unfurled the jib while my father, celebrating his 56th birthday, used his perpetually bandaged index finger to hoist the mainsail. Fred handed the helm to my mother, who found it tricky to steer with a wheel from the low side-- that's how cruisers do it, Ma!
It was a typical early-summer day on Lake Erie: sunny, choppy, windy, not a championship sports team in sight. Reaching along at 6 knots, the 37-footer felt as stable as a house, and about as spacious. The boat's 12-foot beam leaves plenty of space in the cockpit, broad pathways on deck, and room for the whole family down below. Fred and Marilyn plan to take the kids--Emily, Jack, and Alyson--on extended cruises to the Lake Erie Islands and beyond, and the 3700 should prove roomy enough for vacationing with teenagers.
TrueNorth will be the enviable boat on the annual CYC Sail Camp Cruise and should make the perfect platform from which to cheer Jack's Thistle team at Junior Bay Week later this summer.
When it came time to tack for home, Fred just turned the wheel to the left and aimed for the lighthouse. No need to tack the self-tacking jib. We hit the dock and had the boat put away in no time. Minutes later, looking down at the lake from the airplane window, I could almost make out the last wavelets of our wake vanishing into the blue.
On my afternoon cruise, I enjoyed a taste of the fun to be had on
TrueNorth, and I saw just how excited the Hungers are to make the boat their own. Marilyn tells me Fred has taken to reading his Raymarine owners manuals in bed.
