HALLBERG-RASSY 372

Hallberg-Rassy's most recent 37-footer flexes her muscle, but is she still an easy and solid boat to sail short-handed? Nic Compton went to find out

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Since the company was created in 1972, Hallberg-Rassy have developed a formidable reputation as builders of well-built, comfortable cruising yachts. They are probably best-known for their range of sensible all-rounders with centre-cockpits, erring towards the safe rather than the exciting. Or that's what I thought until I headed down to Plymouth to try out a six-year-old Hallberg-Rassy 372.

As soon as I stepped on board Saltpetre, I realised this was a different kind of boat to the one I had imagined. She had the trademark blue hull stripe and the distinctive windscreen but, with her aft cockpit and powerful-looking hull shape, she had an altogether more sporty feel. I realised right away I would have to moor my preconceptions on the quayside and look at the boat with an open mind. For the record, it turns out that, of the 9,700 boats built by Hallberg-Rassy to date, 5,900 (that's 60%) have an aft cockpit. Point taken.

The Hallberg-Rassy 372 was launched in 2008 not as a replacement for the HR37 but as a more sporty alternative - and indeed production of the two boats overlapped by four years. Both boats were drawn by Germán Frers - who has designed 25 of Hallberg-Rassy's yachts to date, accounting for more than a third of the company's total output - but the differences between the two boats are revealing. Both have the same displacement, and almost identical LOA, beam and similar sail area; the 372 is 1in (2.5cm) longer, 2in (5cm) beamier and has 36 sq ft (3.3m²) more sail.

These similarities, however, conceal a big difference in approach. Aside from the aft cockpit, the H372 has a much more ‘modern’ hull shape, with a finer entry, flatter sections aft and a wider transom. This is a boat clearly angled towards performance rather than just cruising comfort.