Ericson 27 Racing

I am curious what experiences other people have had with racing Ericson 27s. I race mine in Seattle, and with a PHRF rating of 244 do quite well in the longer races. I have made a lot of modifications to my little Ericson. It is a new boat from the epoxy bottom to the baby stay. I have a slightly oversized main, no overlapping headsails, and use exclusively A-Symetrical spinnacres on an oversized pole. Anyone else out there race? I would love to know what others have found out about points of sail, different settings for different wind etc. Thanks.

Nigel

E27 Performance Sailing

Nigel, Interested in your performance modifications to your E-27. I'm a multihuller who has an Ericson 27 on the West coast. (SoCal) and wondering how to fly an asymmetric? Do you just use the pole out forward like a sprit? Full batten main? How did you get the "oversized" main - more roach?

I'd love to hear any tips - thanks!

Bruce Osborn

Adjustable Backstay

Nigel,

How do you handle your back stay? Is it split like the one on my 26? If so, what kind of system do you have? How did you anchor the bottom fitting at the transom?

I am thinking about some sort of down wind sail next. Just bought a slightly used Mylar and Pentax Genoa from a UK loft in Michigan....it was from a Tartan 10....slightly re-cut and luff tape added..really helps both up and down wind....once I add a new slick bottom ( what did you use?) I think this thing should really scoot!

Ericson 27 Modifications

The most important modification I made to the boat was the bottom. Ultimately, I had the boat out of the water for nearly 7 months. In that time I took all the old paint off, took care of some blisters, and then went to town with the fairing compound. Sand, add compound, sand add compound. When I was satisifed with the bottom, I put on the epoxy first, and then went with Baltoplate for the paint. Baltoplate is amazing stuff! It sands out to a beautiful, shiny 2000 grit finish.

The next project was sails. I sat down with the sail maker, and we concluded that in the Puget Sound, it just made sense to go for the 9 second PHRF bonus you get for not having overlapping headsails. To that extent, I have a Light 3, Heavy 3, and a 4. The main is a different subject. The boat is currently rated for a slightly oversized main. This is a full batton, lose footed main. I am currently experimenting with a new mainsail which is best described as looking like a multihull sail. I got an interesting look from the sailmaker when I asked him to cut a main with as much roach as possible. The experiment is based on if the new main will generate enough extra speed to justify the rating hit.

The A-Sails came next. Again, based on the Puget Sound, a lot of the race courses are quite reachy. To that extent, and I think partly because the sail maker really wanted to make a big A-Sail for the boat, this is the course I chose. It is great, especially because we carry it on a spinn pole vs. a sprit, so am still able to sail quite deep angles.

Other modifications included the addition of a baby-stay so I could eliminate the forward lower shrouds. This increased the sheeting angle, and gave more control over the shape of the mast and consequently the shape of the main. The backstay on an E27 is the split kind. In order to have an adjustable backstay, we simply anchored onside, and inserted a purchase into the other side. Both are attached in the normal place. I should mention that the backstay and babystay are both spectra.

The most recent project has been the new mainsheet system. I eliminated the cabin top traveller and sheeting system in lieu of an end sheeting system that attaches to a bridle in the cockpit. The main reasons for this were weight, and so that it is easier to trim the main while driving.

We have a big race in the Northwest out of Vancouver called Swiftsure. After Swifsure 2 years ago, I have no doubts about the strenght of the Ericson 27. There is nothing quite like surfing down waves at 11kts at 3am. It was awesome.

Racing the 27

I have been racing my 27 for years. Stopped for a while, and then got into it again this season. In three regattas we got a first, third, first. The first was two races in light air, but we beat the second place boat in our class by 42 minutes corrected. Some of that had to do with gauging the outgoing tide correctly when others did not. In the second race, the wind was all over the lot and didn't settle down until the last leg of a triangle. Lost second by 10 seconds corrected. The third race was reverse handicap; we were first boat to finish, beating the secon place boat by 14 minutes actual time. These three races were in primarily light air, wherein my boat is deadly. I race it with everything on board--cushions, pots and pans, extra fuel, bedding, etc. What I have noticed is that weight placement on my E-27 is critical. Get it in the worng place and you get slow. I usually race with four on board, and I am always moving crew weight to match the conditions. In a race the middle of November, which we did not start, the wind in Tampa Bay was 36 sustained with gusts to 42. Had a double reefed main up when we decided to pack it in. Might have done it had I had my storm jib on board and a more seasoned crew on the pointy end. But I didn't. People moan about my 225 rating, but I have had this boat since 1976 and have learned how to sail it best.