Ericson 34 versus Aloha 34

[northerner]

Still comtemplating our purchase of the 1991 PS ericson 34I also have my eye on an 1984 Aloha 34Both boats are beautiful and about the same price. The Aloha has a ton of new equipment though, which the ericson doesn't haveWhen I spoke to the broker for the Aloha he said that the Ericson is much more tenderCan anyone here comment in that? The boats are the same size with similar displacementOne of the advantages to the ericson, is its here where the other is a long way away a three week sail up the inside passage from bc

 

[Gary Schroeder]

Interesting pair to consider. The intenet sez the A34 came on the market in 1975, & the keel/rudder profiles look very much that era. E34 came out in 1987 per that same highly reliable source. Hull dimensions seem comparable, but the lines might not be. E34 PHRF rating is ~123 vs A34 rating of 162, indicating a big speed difference potential. E34 appears to have a slightly lighter displacement, with more ballast and a taller "I" dimension & larger sail plan. Reefing will reduce that "I" when you want to, but you can't make a short stick taller when the air is light. Will you care?
PS boats are high quality, but I don't have any exposure to Aloha so can't compare in that regard. Do you need the extra equpment on the A34, or is it really just going to be there? What would adding things you need to the E34 cost? We've had our 38-200 for 20 yrs, and still like sailing it. I still single-hand some days despite turning 65.

Best wishes to you on whatever you decide is appropriate for you & your area.

 

[Maine Sail]

Not even in the same class. The Aloha is a slug comparitively speaking, we race against one on an E-34. Some weeks we need binoculars to see her on the course she's in our dust that badly.... If you want any level of performance then the E-34 will beat the pants off the Aloha. The Pacific Seacraft build quality is also excellent!

I don't even own an Ericson (have a CS) so I have no dog in this fight. I can tell you that you'd have to gold plate the Aloha and fill the bilges with some gold bars to get me to bite over an E-34 built by PS......

 

[northerner]

Hi Gary and Maine Sail

Great feedback, thank you very much

I especially appreciate the comment that you can't get more speed out of a short stick

What started all of this is my husband commented that we'd not even looked at other boats before moving so quickly on this one. I loved the PS E from the moment I saw it. I also make my mind up quickly and tend to know what I want. I moved too fast for my husband and he was getting cold feet with such a big investment and not being entirely sure this was the right boat. So I made a short list of other boats to see. The Aloha has a ton of equipment - dodger, autopilot, refrigeration, etc. All of those things we want. Especially the dodger, for sailing in Alaska. So it was me that was pushing the bigger boat thing, and I knew the equipment was important to my husband, and it sort of went from there

I love the look of the Ericson and believe she would suit our purposes well, which is coastal cruising in Alaska in a comfortable, trustworthy and well built boat. Someday we might want to cruise down to Mexico, but it seems like the E can handle that

The people that own the E here are really wonderful and bought it new. I thought the stars aligned and it would be a good fit for us. We currently own an S 2 racing sloop, and we love the speed and performance. I don't necessarily want to be doddling along slowly...

So, great comments and I really appreciate the advice. We have a survey set up for the E on April 5

Sea trials hopefully sometime this month

Fingers crossed