Franksbroke said..
Hi all,

I'm after any information on Northshore 370 Sport, and any comparison against the 38s. How strong are these yachts when compared to the NS38? My understanding is the 38s are very strong with a great hull deck bond. Are the 370s designed for blue water? Or just coastal cruising? Would you sail a 370 to Lord Howe, or between states with out any issues? Is the mast set up on a 370 any better or worse than a 38?
Can the 370 carry a spinnaker with out issue? Seems a strange question from my point of view, but I haven't seen any photos yet.

And finally, which is quicker? 38 or a 370?

Thanks for anyone who can shine a bright light on that.

Join the Northshore Owners Facebook site and pose the question. Bob Vinks a former owner of Northshore Yachts is even on there along with many 38 owners and quite a few 370 owners. The 370 and the 370 Sports are different and I believe that there were only 18 made anyway. For what it's worth it won boat of the year in 2000.

There is also the rare NSX which is like a 38 but with keel stepped mast, high aspect keel, spade rudder, tiller, open transom but otherwise similar underwater hull shape I believe.

Quite a few regular 38s have a factory optional fitted lead boot adding 800kg at the bottom of the keel which I do have. It is visually indetectable (except with a magnet) and adds just over 200 mm draught but as the hull being fairly narrow doesn't have a whole lot of initial form stability I like it so would look for that.

From the line drawing in the attached photo the 370 looks to have nothing whatsoever in common with my NS38 with totally different underwater hull shape, different keel, different rudder as well as different deck, cockpit and rig. With its flatter underwater sections I highly doubt it would be as sea kindly or strong as the 38 although it is most probably quicker down wind and in fair weather. That is not to say that it may well be stronger and more seakindly than a modern Beneteau for example. I haven't a clue on that score.

Finally there is the issue of shaft drive vs saildrive. To my knowledge all 38s with the possible exception of the NSX were shaft drive whereas I suspect all 370s were saildrive. I also suspect that there would be a lot more balsa core in the hull of the 370 so make sure your surveyor has a moisture meter with him.

From racing against them and looking at ORC certificates;

1- they are very different boats; different designers and eras. The 370 has a different hull with a broader stern, a short overlap headsail, bulb keel, a foot more beam, more wetted surface, more stability, much more draft, and is rated about 7% quicker under ORC.

2- Against the NSX 38 (which as noted above is a revved-up NS 38 hull with deeper bulb keel, deeper rudder and lighter construction) the local NS370 is faster in a breeze and slower in the light, which is right according to ORC information - but then again the NSX 38 is a MUCH quicker boat than the stock NS38 despite having the same hull. The difference between the NSX and 38 underlines how much difference a better keel can make, and as noted many 38s have a modified keel.

Some NS 38s are almost as quick as the NS370 upwind and on square runs in the light stuff, but slower in any breeze. The big speed difference between the NSX38 and the stock 38

3- Dunno about construction issues but the stock 370 is more stable than the stock 38, I believe. I think the stock 38s have an LPS about 114 whereas the 370s were built to the later stability standard requiring about 122 or so. Many of the 38s have been modified to fit the newer stability requirements, as noted above, and some of them have an LPS about 10 degrees higher than some stock 38s and therefore are more stable than the stock 370. Scott Jutson was a qualified NA if I recall and although I didn't know him well I got the feeling he was the sort of guy to be pretty serious about getting the structure right.