True North 38 Completes A 12,000 Mile “Great Circle” Cruise

Inspired by the rugged workboats of New England, Pearson’s True North 38 is a fast, family cruiser designed to be a safe and comfortable passagemaker. Think of her as an offshore SUV that will take you, your family, your friends, and your gear anywhere you want to go. From its beginning in 1991 the True North 38 has captured the hearts of boaters from Newport to San Diego, from Seattle to Japan, all along the Atlantic Coast and up the West Coast of Florida to its panhandle and across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. During its first year we decided to put the True North 38’s cruising abilities to the test with one of the most ambitious shakedown cruises imaginable. In the Fall of 2001, we put Jono Billings aboard “True North” and started him on the Great Circle Cruise (or The Great Loop) —a 12, 000-mile, voyage from Portsmouth R.I., down the East Coast, around the Florida Keys, across the Gulf of Mexico, up the Tenn-Tom Bigbee Waterway to the Great Lakes, down the Hudson River and back to Rhode Island.

The Great Circle Cruise had two key goals. First, we wanted to put the True North 38 and all of its equipment to the ultimate test. To make the task more challenging, we sent Jono the wrong way around—upstream—in some of the nation’s most storied waterways. Second, we wanted to introduce the True North 38 to boaters throughout the heartland. As expected Hull #1 easily finished the 12,000 mile, factory shakedown cruise in July 2002 without any major problem or breakdown, and impressed countless fellow boaters along the way.