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Ericson Trivia

markvone

Sustaining Member
E33RH Keell Swap

My 1982 E33RH, hull #3 which I bought used in ~1987 reportedly had the keel swap. My boat had been traded in by the original owners for a new Shannon in Tiverton, RI, and the Shannon sales guy had a lot of the boat's history. My boat had been owned by a couple who worked at the Brewster Boatyard/Ericson dealer nearby in Rhode Island. They had access to yard services to make the swap and probably got the keels shipped for free with new Ericson boats on the delivery trucks. The old keel went back for a credit for the lead value as I recall.

The Holland model Ericsons were moderate IOR designs intended to be more race oriented than the Bruce King designs. As I recall, they were pretty expensive when new and the owners were likely to spend money on racing upgrades like this keel swap. The new keel design was in response to yet another change in the IOR racing rule which allowed more stability for less penalty. This change occurred after the E33/36RH were designed and (mostly) built. The IOR racing rule was in it's last few years and was known for constant changes and some emphasis in it's measurements which invited designers to do extreme things to their boat designs to get a better rating, not necessarily a faster design (like a keel tip made of balsa). The constant changes which obsoleted older boats helped to kill the rule.

I have no idea if my E36RH, hull #21, has the keel swap.

Mark
 
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