Hanse 371 Review, Build Quality and Used Buyer's Guide

The Hanse 371 and the 1999 partnership that defined the brand

Before the Hanse 371, Michael Schmidt's Greifswald yard built boats from second-hand moulds. As Yachting World's David Harding recounted, the Aphrodite 29 became the Hanse 291, the Finngulf 33 became the Hanse 331 and a Bianca 42 with a shortened stem became the first Hanse 400. They sailed well and sold cheaply, but Schmidt knew they lacked the interior volume buyers wanted. His answer was to commission an all-new range from Judel/Vrolijk & Co., the German office behind Admiral's Cup winners, Whitbread 60s and America's Cup boats.

The Hanse 371, drawn in 1999, was the first result, and Hanse still calls it the award-winning model that opened a new era for the yard. It stayed in production until 2005, when the Hanse 370 took over. Anyone shopping for a Hanse 371 is looking at the ancestor of every modern Hanse, with the self-tacking jib and clean coachroof that later models made famous.

How the 371 is put together

Practical Sailor went through the construction in unusual detail. Hulls were laid up in a female mould with isophthalic polyester throughout, starting with a powder-bonded chopped strand mat to stop print-through, followed by three layers of 900-gram biaxial roving and a 600-gram mat. The topsides are cored with 22 mm balsa, while the keel area and through-hulls get 25 to 35 mm of solid glass. Hanse told the magazine it skipped vinylester because of cost and because its own tests showed iso resin resisting blisters as well; it offered a factory epoxy coating instead.

Below, a solid glass fishbone structure is bonded to the hull, and every bulkhead is tabbed to the hull on both sides and to the deck on one side. The hull-to-deck joint is an inward flange bedded in Sikaflex, with an aluminum toerail through-bolted on rectangular backing plates. The keel is the clever part: an iron casting with a lead bulb at the bottom, held by 11 bonded keel bolts under a stainless plate. Hanse claimed the bulb could shift about 1.5 cm aft in a hard grounding, sparing the hull. Practical Sailor relayed an owner's rock strike at speed that bent the wheel yet left damage only on the bottom of the keel.

A rig meant for two people and no overlapping genoa

The 9/10 fractional rig has two sets of swept spreaders and wire standing rigging. Z-Spar supplied masts until 2001, after which Isomat took over. A full-batten main and a roughly 90 percent self-tacking jib on a furler were standard, and Harding noted that relatively few owners ordered the optional overlapping genoa. Sailboatdata lists the main at 38 square meters and the self-tacker at 28.5, with an optional 40 square meter genoa and a roughly 100 square meter spinnaker.

The mainsheet sits mid-boom with the traveler on a 42-inch track forward of the companionway, and sheets run aft to clutches at the hatch. Hanse's production manager told Practical Sailor that a cockpit traveler would be faster but less appealing to cruisers, and Harding confirmed that two alternative mainsheet systems were offered. The split backstay keeps the open transom clear but came without an adjuster. Side decks are about 18 inches wide with the shrouds at the cabin base, and the forward port cockpit locker has no drain.

What two testers found at the helm

Practical Sailor sailed a 371 off Vancouver Island with the standard main and self-tacking jib. In 6 knots of wind the boat was just quick enough to stay off the engine, though the tester wanted a bigger headsail. Once the breeze reached 8 to 10 knots it beat to windward at 5 to 7 knots, sailing best at 12 to 15 degrees of heel with a light helm and identical manners on a reach.

Harding had the opposite problem: more than 25 knots of wind. With a slab in the main he held a steady 6.5 knots upwind, tacking through 80 to 85 degrees, and saw 9 knots when he bore away onto a reach, despite budget sails and a fixed two-blade prop. The Whitlock rod steering stayed finger light, the boat spun through 360 degrees in little more than a boat length, and when overpressed it simply rounded up a few degrees and recovered. His summary was that in performance for the money it probably topped the table.

• Displacement to length ratio of about 174 and sail area to displacement just under 21 (Yachting World)
• Motoring at full throttle, 3,400 rpm, a little under 7 knots with the Volvo 2030 saildrive

Mahogany, cane doors and a table that does three jobs

The interior is the warm, varnished style Hanse used at the time: mahogany veneer over plywood and foam-cored panels, a teak and holly sole, white gelcoat surfaces overhead and woven cane fronts on locker doors for ventilation. Harding thought it felt more American than European. There is more than 6 feet of headroom throughout, and the saloon measures about 11 feet on the centerline.

The galley sits to starboard at the foot of the companionway with a two-burner gimbaled stove and double sink. Forward is a C-shaped settee whose table converts to an 8 by 4 foot berth, and opposite is a freestanding 28-inch table with seats fore and aft that serves as chart table, cocktail table and dinner for two. The single head is a 3 by 4 foot compartment off the saloon. The forward cabin has a berth at least 6 feet long and a small dressing area; the aft cabin has a 6 ft 6 in by 6 ft double.

Rather than a three-cabin standard layout, Hanse offered three uses for the space aft of the galley: a separate 28 by 48 inch shower that doubles as a wet locker, a second aft cabin, or storage. Practical Sailor recommended the shower for anyone planning passages.

Niggles the reviewers flagged, and what they mean twenty years on

Neither magazine found much to fault structurally, and Harding said the worst he had heard about Hanse construction was relatively mild. He did find rough edges, a few areas of dry mat in lockers and signs of fast assembly, a shortage of handholds between the compression post and the galley, and an emergency tiller only 21 inches long that faced aft and would need blocks and lines to be useful. Families with young children were advised to order the acrylic panel that closes the transom opening.

On a boat now 20 to 26 years old, maintenance history matters more than those first impressions. The balsa-cored deck and topsides are the main survey item, especially around hardware owners added later. The saildrive seal and engine mounts deserve a close look, and original sails will be finished. Access is a bonus: the oversized companionway step lifts to expose a well-insulated engine box.

371, 371 DS and the Hanse 370 that followed

Sailboatdata carries two records. The main Hanse 371 entry lists 5,950 kg of displacement and 2,245 kg of ballast, while a second record labeled 371 DS lists 6,600 kg, 2,400 kg of lead ballast, 79 liters of fuel and 220 liters of water, plus optional drafts of 1.69 m and 1.08 m. The gap probably reflects lightship versus equipped weights or brochure revisions, so treat any single displacement figure with caution.

The Hanse 370 that replaced the 371 in 2006 is a different, beamier boat at 11.35 m by 3.75 m with a 7,200 kg displacement, and it sold in far greater numbers, about 950 according to sailboatdata. If you want the more slender, more traditional-looking hull, make sure the listing really is a 371. The 370 has the steeper stem and later Hanse styling, while the 371 has the flat sheer, elevated cabin trunk and varnished interior described here.

Owning a Hanse 371 in North America

Hanse began appointing dealers in Connecticut, Maryland, California and Vancouver from 2001, so a modest number of 371s were commissioned for this side of the Atlantic, and the rest arrive as imports. Parts are rarely a problem because the hardware is generic European kit: Whitlock steering components, Volvo or Yanmar saildrives and standard deck gear. Annual costs for a 37-footer of this age typically run $7,000 to $14,000 before slip fees vary by region, with sail replacement and saildrive service the big-ticket items.

For a couple who wants a boat that tacks itself and steers like a far pricier yacht, the 371 remains one of the better values among late-1990s European cruisers. Just plan around the 21-gallon fuel tank on long motoring legs.