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?
There aren’t many things to celebrate about lockdown but the new Dale Classic 37 may just be one of them. It was the temporary shutdown of Dale’s boat building business in early 2020 that gave managing director Mike Reynolds the time to reflect on what its next boat might be. By then the elegant Classic 45 was already 13 years old and although it had been joined by a Classic 35 in 2014, Mike felt there was room for something in between, something that combined the timeless looks and style of the Classic 45 with the superior packaging and more manageable proportions of the 35. He even had a customer willing to fund the build. Just one problem remained; Arthur Mursell of TT Boat Designs, the naval architecture firm behind the legendary Nelson range of craft and the man responsible for designing all of Dale’s equally seaworthy hulls, had retired. Thankfully, Mike has a way with words and once you get talking to him, it’s very hard to say no. Arthur duly relented, dusted off his drawing board and the serious business of designing and building the new Classic 37 began.
Two years later and that vision is now a reality. Launched to widespread acclaim at the Southampton Boat Show in September, it certainly appeared to tick all the right boxes in terms of looks, layout and finish, but the real test of a Dale is how it copes in a lumpy sea. This is best experienced in Dale’s home waters off the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales, where the waves roll in from the Atlantic all the way from America. The Solent in September is a poor substitute for the sheer majesty of the Welsh coastline but it can get pretty messy when the wind is blowing and the tide is running. And today it is doing just that. With a gusty Force 6-7 rattling the masts in the marina and most boats staying resolutely put, it’s exactly the kind of day a Dale is made for. Time to get down to business.
PERFECT FIT
Settling in behind the helm of the Classic 37 feels a bit like slipping on your favourite pair of deck shoes – smarter and more luxurious, of course, but comfortable and strangely familiar even if you’ve never driven a Dale before. Like Goldilocks’s porridge, everything about it feels just right. The large, upright stainless steel wheel is cool to the touch and adds a certain gravitas to the experience while harking back to its Nelson pilot boat roots. The oversized compass, mounted on a circular plinth of turned oak, speaks of adventures to come. And the combination of easy-to-read analogue dials and the latest touchscreen MFDs set in carbon fibre but framed in yet more polished oak is shorthand for everything Dale stands for – modern engineering, timeless styling and quality craftsmanship.
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