I'm going to examine a 1974 E-23 this weekend with the shoal keel/centerboard. My intention is to race in our club events and while general reports are that the 23 does OK in PHRF, I wonder about the pointing ability of the centerboard. Would I be much better off continuing my search for a fixed keel?
E-23/2 Keel Performance ?
- Thread starter cmason
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- e23 or 2 keel performance
Rob Hessenius
Inactive Member
E-23
Cmason~
There are many reasons why someone would prefer a centerboard type of boat. It might come down to the depth of your lake or desire to easily trailer the boat. The 23 is a very nice boat, as are all Ericsons and should serve you well. Sailing to phrf is not just the hull, there is so much more that is involved. The first being are you as the skipper able to live up to the boats capabilities? New sails, slick bottom and all the other gimmicks and gadgets are all rendered a failure with one bad tack.
The board will be more of your friend in racing situations than you will ever imagine. It will allow you to point higher than most standard keel boats on upwind runs. With the wind at your back it will be able to be raised to reduce drag. You will be pleasantly surprised with these benefits.
There are a couple of guys here that race 23's and are extremely successful, as you can be too. I hope the boat works out for you. This site is an awesome place to visit and educate yourself and please feel free to ask any question.
Cmason~
There are many reasons why someone would prefer a centerboard type of boat. It might come down to the depth of your lake or desire to easily trailer the boat. The 23 is a very nice boat, as are all Ericsons and should serve you well. Sailing to phrf is not just the hull, there is so much more that is involved. The first being are you as the skipper able to live up to the boats capabilities? New sails, slick bottom and all the other gimmicks and gadgets are all rendered a failure with one bad tack.
The board will be more of your friend in racing situations than you will ever imagine. It will allow you to point higher than most standard keel boats on upwind runs. With the wind at your back it will be able to be raised to reduce drag. You will be pleasantly surprised with these benefits.
There are a couple of guys here that race 23's and are extremely successful, as you can be too. I hope the boat works out for you. This site is an awesome place to visit and educate yourself and please feel free to ask any question.
Thanks Rob! I am well aware that the sailor has a lot to do with performance (m)
I just didn't want to get into the boat and have a forehead slapping moment
.
The boat in question needs a LOT of work but it is pretty cheap and all that I've read has me pumped on the 23's general sailing performance. I just wanted some reassurance I guess that if I don't do well, it is because of me and not the boat.
I just didn't want to get into the boat and have a forehead slapping moment
.The boat in question needs a LOT of work but it is pretty cheap and all that I've read has me pumped on the 23's general sailing performance. I just wanted some reassurance I guess that if I don't do well, it is because of me and not the boat.
Rob Hessenius
Inactive Member
Board
Cmason~
Yes, the boat needs to sit on the keel where the board is tucked up into. The Ida boards are nice, but are pricey. As long as you have an existing board, it could be rebuildable. There are some guys wqho have lightened up the boards and incresed purchaes of liftingto the point of raising without a assisting winch. There should be plenty of information in the archives., I rebuilt my board this past winter and it wasnt really all that hard of a job.
I didnt mean to sound schooling about phrf racing. What I really meant to say was that if you dress the 23 up, she will be sneaky fast and you will compete with much larger boats.
Cmason~
Yes, the boat needs to sit on the keel where the board is tucked up into. The Ida boards are nice, but are pricey. As long as you have an existing board, it could be rebuildable. There are some guys wqho have lightened up the boards and incresed purchaes of liftingto the point of raising without a assisting winch. There should be plenty of information in the archives., I rebuilt my board this past winter and it wasnt really all that hard of a job.
I didnt mean to sound schooling about phrf racing. What I really meant to say was that if you dress the 23 up, she will be sneaky fast and you will compete with much larger boats.
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cmason, Welcome!
I've had my E23/2 for 23 years and love it! Our original intent in '78 was to have a one-design fleet here and we fell a few boats short, loosing out to the J24. I picked mine up in '85 from the "fleet". Although I've never raced it I've participated in a few one-on-one's w/ the keeled version and it was impossible to differentiate between pure boat speed/pointing ability due to differences in the ability of skippers and sails. I'm sure there must be a slight rating difference between the two. There's an E23/2 racer here, Bob Boe, who also has an E23 newsletter. If he doesn't "show" go to the Owners & Projects link at the top of the page and drop him an e-mail. He also knows everything there is to know about board replacement.
I wanted the CB version because the boat's docked at my house in ~30" of water and the channel out to the lake is ~4'. It's also really hard to launch a fixed keel boat on our lake, as the J24's found out(the CB's a breeze to launch and retrieve). Upwind performance w/ the board up is "adequate" to stay out of trouble, but dropping the board when out of the shallows is like hopping on a set of rails, huge difference in pointing ability and leeway.
A followup Q . . When the board is all up, does/can the boat sit solidly on the keel?
Yes, I guess I mistook the original ? On my roller trailer there are 4 heavy-duty rollers that take the full weight of the keel. I've dropped the outer wheel assemblies to do bottom paint. The boat can also be lifted w/ a sling behind the keel and a strap thru the bow eye for CB removal.
I've had my E23/2 for 23 years and love it! Our original intent in '78 was to have a one-design fleet here and we fell a few boats short, loosing out to the J24. I picked mine up in '85 from the "fleet". Although I've never raced it I've participated in a few one-on-one's w/ the keeled version and it was impossible to differentiate between pure boat speed/pointing ability due to differences in the ability of skippers and sails. I'm sure there must be a slight rating difference between the two. There's an E23/2 racer here, Bob Boe, who also has an E23 newsletter. If he doesn't "show" go to the Owners & Projects link at the top of the page and drop him an e-mail. He also knows everything there is to know about board replacement.
I wanted the CB version because the boat's docked at my house in ~30" of water and the channel out to the lake is ~4'. It's also really hard to launch a fixed keel boat on our lake, as the J24's found out(the CB's a breeze to launch and retrieve). Upwind performance w/ the board up is "adequate" to stay out of trouble, but dropping the board when out of the shallows is like hopping on a set of rails, huge difference in pointing ability and leeway.
A followup Q . . When the board is all up, does/can the boat sit solidly on the keel?
Yes, I guess I mistook the original ? On my roller trailer there are 4 heavy-duty rollers that take the full weight of the keel. I've dropped the outer wheel assemblies to do bottom paint. The boat can also be lifted w/ a sling behind the keel and a strap thru the bow eye for CB removal.
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