Beauty and a beast | Dale Classic 37 sea trial review | Motor Boat & Yachting

The Welsh wizards at Dale have an uncanny record of building timeless boats with world class seakeeping but can their latest offering live up to the legends of the past? After the 2022 Southampton Boat Show, MBY editor Hugo Andreae got the chance to take the Dale Classic 37 for a test drive and see what it's made of...

Dale Classic 37 specifications
LOA: 40ft 2in (12.25m)
Beam: 12ft 3in (3.72m)
Draft: 3ft 8in (1.12m)
Air draught: 9ft 1in (2.77m)
Displacement (light): 10 tonnes
Test engines: Twin 440hp Yanmar 6LY shaftdrives
Top speed on test: 28.8 knots
Fuel capacity: 1,380 litres (300 gal)
Water capacity: 440 litres (97 gal)
Range: 230nm at 20 knots / 777nm at 7 knots
Fuel consumption: 96lph at 20 knots / 10.2lph at 7 knots
Noise: 73 d(B)A at 20 knots / 62 d(B)A at 7 knots
Design: TT Boat Designs and Dale Sailing
RCD category: A
Starting price: £640,000 (ex. VAT)
Price as tested: £956,000 (inc. VAT)

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[markomarten]

Quality over quantity, there’s nothing bad on here. The finish is exquisite. A good video considering it was at a boat show, lovely size and very easy to use single handed.

[gaycha]

Love it. A proper sea boat, great for a couple who want to cruise and feel safe if it blows up a bit en route.

[trixiepickle]

Totally fantastic boat. Character, style, efficiency and beautiful design. I am now doing the euro millions. Absolutely worth every penny.

[nutronhammernutronhammer]

Stunning, stunning boat, just oozes quality and craftsmanship.

[antonoat]

Beautiful boat, real quality which is plain for all to sea. The semi planing hull really does seem to offer a fantastic ride quality and handling! 👏😀👍

[maryholder]

A nice Lady as she cuts her way through the sea waves. She got the best of both worlds with the. semi displacement hull. No nonsense boat, for work or leisure.
Thanks Hugo for a great review, plus you had fun.

[nicbennett]

Brilliant video Hugo!
Your enthusiasm is infectious, and has me rethinking my planing hull as the North Sea near me is rarely flat 😬.

[dazzler]

Great tour and lovely boat. Seems a lot of money for this size of boat though!

[MarkK-kugg]

Well done! This boat has a lot of pleasing lines, details, and obvious-quality built-in. I like the balance of classic and practical design (i.e. Flexteek deck and classic/modern helm station). I would not be put off by the slow pilot seats or the bed as long as I am not holding a button. For a 37, I appreciate the headspace throughout. Add to that, the deck appeared quite dry thru the swells and during the 360 degree turn. Question: during the beginning demonstration, was it done on stabilizer, which was shown at the end of the video?

[clifbradley]

Nice boat. Really good island hopper or weekend boat. I don't know if I would want to be on it for more than a few days though

[FLGurl]

This would actually make the perfect tender for a Super Yacht of say 120' plus. This way the Super Yacht could anchor well off shore and you would not have to worry about getting to shore in this at all. Could also double as additional crew accommodations if needed. I am very impressed how well the channel presented this. Thank you so much!

[MrRicardo]

Lovely boat. I'd love to own one

[davidmeek]

Aloha; very beautiful and well crafted. Mahalo

[Coatsey]

A really good video, thank you. As a 56 year old who is in the market and who previously had a Lagoon 54, and powerboats my warm constructive thoughts are as follows; many great features but the wood, it made me think of an old man. I would also add that the combination of carbon or modern does not work at all, it's like a wonderful eggs Benedict being serves with a wonderful pasta, on their own great, but together, no. It feels like they are selling to somebody back in the 60's. My advice, humble put, would be to keep this look but try a more modern look and materials. It may also cost less. An example, the wine and glass holders in wood were impressive but I would have them 3d printed from cheaper but cooler looking material. I appreciate my comments may seem harsh, I mean the company well and hope by taking the time and giving examples I have put some substance to my views.

[allandoyle]

A water tight door beside the helm (which is great) but the doors to the cockpit are just plain regular doors.

[darthkek]

This boat is so magic and so Welsh it should be called the Merlin.

[aarem]

Great boat. Looks like it needed a lot of steering imput to keep it in a straight line? Would be tiresome on long hauls?

[ironichumorist]

can anyone explain the green-tinted glass (I see it is also used on many buildings in london) in contrast to a dark tint used on other boats, cars, etc., does that particular greenish tint of a unique benefit?

[kirkwilliams]

Hate the duel seats at the helm. Rather be a single and double on the starboard side. Wonder if that is a change they can make.

[jamesonpace]

Just lovely. Wished I'd bought when £ = .97usd....