Engine cutout in Transom E-27

Are these cutouts from the factory or an addition afterwords? Also is their a Door that fills this space when underway ? Thanks Chris......

E-27 Transom Permutations

I have seen two versions of the E-27 cutout. The boat I used to crew on once in a while had one that was an "opening", i.e. the top was intact clear across, about a two or three inch section. That boat came with an A4, later replaced by the owner I sailed with, with a Yanmar one-cylinder diesel.
He also put in a removeable smoked acrylic fill piece into the transom opening. This could be easily slipped out for swimming access to the water (well, if the swimmer was not too rotund...)

I have seen many others with the outboard cutout, and the opening went all the way up both sides, for a complete cutout of the center of the transom.
In all cases, the finish gel coating indicated a factory option -- presumeably for when the buyer had not opted for the inboard.

Anyway, them's just observations "from the field."
Loren in PDX

If you are looking for a transom door to keep following seas out, this won't help. But I like this solution for an old cut out.

Kinda cool looking !!

Was this a factory option or an after thought ? I currently own a Catalina 22 and we are tossing around the idea of buying an Ericson 27 as an upgrade/Bigger boat. I do like the Ericson style Sailboats. If these were factory options did they come with an insert to install when not in use ? Any info is hugely welcome. Thanks guys. Chris...

Small World...
That E-27 I used to crew on was owned by a former Catalina 22 sailor that did a lot of both cruising and racing the Catalina, and moved up to the Ericson and kept it for a bunch of years........


Loren

Loren, I have been looking at the Ericsons for a long time now. They have a style both on deck and below that I like alot. I have read the maintenance pages on this site but if you can add anything I should look for, Im all ears. Thanks. Chris.........

The cutout in Mark’s photo is the factory outboard transom set-up. The original slide-in piece was fiberglass & heavy -> about 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick. Felt like solid laminate though I am guessing it probably had a plywood core.

Thanks for the information ! Thats what I was looking for. Chris.....