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Ericson 29 versus Ericson 30 +

sgwright67

Member III
No worries about thread creep, Christian. Your expertly woven tales of experience and humour are always welcome! :)

As is my way, I am quite certain that I am over-thinking this whole thing, but the problem is that I have too much time on my hands. Getting a boat will solve that one quickly.
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I don't want to hijack Pajo's thread, so I'll put this here in response to SGWright's question about hull stiffness...

If you haven't already, you might want to take a look at these blogs (& books) from guys who have done some limit-pushing with the E27, E29, and E35 and did Pacific Crossings.
http://www.trafficated.com/index.html
http://cdlloyd.blogspot.com
http://www.inthepresentsea.com/the_...n__first_EGREGIOUS_found;_bookends;_snow.html
Although the story in this last link casts confusion on what I thought I heard about which boat Webb Chiles sailed where.

IIRC, some or all of them described significant oil-canning problems during up-wind passages. And I've had a bit of trouble with oil-canning on the cradle. Somewhere (probably in marketing material, so grab the salt shaker) I read that Ericson thought they were being clever by using the liner as reinforcement instead of traditional floors and stringers, and this later evolved into the TAFG. But the liner is only attached along the settees, V-berth, and Q-berth platforms. There are big gaps that don't appear to have any support. I've identified a couple of places where reinforcing bulkheads or floors ought to be added below the liner, but it turns out that I can't do it while the boat is in the cradle because the hull is distorted just enough that it's not quite the same shape when floating. I've also considered pouring some two-part polyurethane foam in narrow places between the hull and liner to try to bond and stiffen them. Narrow "bookshelves" in the V-berth might support the bows a bit better, but something would be needed to transfer the force between the liner and hull (e.g. the foam, with maybe some epoxy plugs). Something similar may be needed in the transom. I'm starting to wonder if I'm bending the boat when I try to get proper forestay tension.

Of course, one quick solution would be "buy a different boat!" But I like to think about how I might make do with what I already have, and for little money. Anyway, this boat is (deliberately) old and cheap, so I'm not wasting much except my time.
 
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