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Are all Ericson models built equally well?

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
There are many posts on this site which mention Ericson quality, in design, fibreglass work, cabinetry, etc. For those of you who have worked for Ericson, or who have been around these boats for a long time, did Ericson apply the same kind of techniques and construction effort to all their models or is it customary that the larger (ie. more expensive) models got more attention, possibly at the expense of the smaller boats?

In asking this question, I understand that some aspects of the designs changed over the years, and that later boats will include modifications that the earlier models don't have (e.g. triaxial floor grid for additional support through the hull).

What I'm really wondering, is if the quality of an Ericson 23 or 27 will be at the same level of workmanship as an Ericson 35 or 38 of the same vintage? Any comments or opinions from those in a position to know?

Frank.
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Hard to answer

The short answer is yes-they are all high quality (although the hulls laid up on Friday afternoons were often heavy with resin-some of the guys had the weekends on their minds instead of squeegy'ing every bit of resin out).

But, the structural requirements of the 23/25 were SO different than those of the larger boats-it is not truly an apples to apples comparison. There is a lot more engineering in the bigger boats.

Also, keep in mind the whole process changed radically when the TAFG was introduced.

The answers is that the E-boats were considered to be among the highest quality boats in their market-upper middle market (not a swan, but not a Lancer or Irwin either) which included Islander, Cal, Columbia in the day. E-boats were just a bt better in overall quality and engineering (considering the age).

Although the 60's E-boats were quite different in design, construction, and engineering than the 70's E-boats, and the 80's were something else, for each time period they were near the top of the heap.

In the 60's, we had no idea how much resin we (the industry)could get out of the hulls without losing strength-as a result these boast were super heavy-more than they needed to be. Chainplates were anchored to the hull/deck joint, etc.

In the 70's we learned about squeezing all the excess resin out to save weight, we went to inboard chainplates for narrower sheeting angles (to go along with those new fangled fin keels), and the structural engineering was totally redone(we now had to tie the rig loads to the keel-a novel concept) as result..

The 80's saw the TAFG, and the idea of a load bearing structure carrying and distributing rig, keel, furniture, engine loads along the length and width of the hull-allowing the hull to be mostly a skin, yet still strong and safe..

Hope that helps answer the question!
 
new question on an ancient post

What is the history of solid vs balsa?
If this sounds weird, it's because I am not sure what I am talking about, or at least HOW to talk about it!

Im asking because I am wondering if I can glue a new depth sounder inside the hull (vs the more expensive use of the transducer that is in need of replacement).... and that only works with solid fiberglass cores. I have a 1984 26 Ericson (which I love love love).

I hope someone reads this..... thanks in advance!
Hallie and Siren
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
What is the history of solid vs balsa?
If this sounds weird, it's because I am not sure what I am talking about, or at least HOW to talk about it!

Im asking because I am wondering if I can glue a new depth sounder inside the hull (vs the more expensive use of the transducer that is in need of replacement).... and that only works with solid fiberglass cores. I have a 1984 26 Ericson (which I love love love).

I hope someone reads this..... thanks in advance!
Hallie and Siren

Your hull is/should be... solid layup and an inside transducer should work fine.
AFAIK some transducers will be slightly attenuated by the hull fiberglass and the depth range will be diminished.
A very long time ago I glued one to the inside bottom of my prior boat, also solid layup, and it would give readings to about 200 feet, rather than the 500 feet it was (theoretically) capable of.
 
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tenders

Innocent Bystander
HULLS are all solid fiberglass on Ericsons, so feel free to ignore the admonitions of the depthsounder manufacturers. Cored hulls are a bit of an oddity on boats of these parameters, and the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are on C&Cs.

DECKS are virtually all cored. My 32 has a 3/16-1/4" layer of fiberglass on top, 1/2" balsa in the middle (except in the areas where I've replaced rotten balsa with foam), and 1/16-1/8" fiberglass on the bottom.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
HULLS are all solid fiberglass on Ericsons

Generally true, but there are some outliers. The original (1977) Ericson 34 (later called the 34R/34X) had a cored hull (Airex, IIRC).

I've "heard" that the earlier Ericson-39 and Ericson-46 had cored hulls.

But, as far as I know, all of the 1980s Ericsons are solid-layup hulls.

$.02
Bruce
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
What is the history of solid vs balsa?
If this sounds weird, it's because I am not sure what I am talking about, or at least HOW to talk about it!

Im asking because I am wondering if I can glue a new depth sounder inside the hull (vs the more expensive use of the transducer that is in need of replacement).... and that only works with solid fiberglass cores. I have a 1984 26 Ericson (which I love love love).

I hope someone reads this..... thanks in advance!
Hallie and Siren
I have the identical boat to you with a shoot through the hull transducer and it works just fine.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
solid hull

That was/is my belief.

I thought I had previously seen someone on the forums with a 39, who showed a photo of a big thick cored section after drilling for a thru-hull . And there are a couple of posts here on the forum that state the 39 came either cored or solid at various points in the production run.

But other than those tidbits, I'd always believed the 70s boats were all solid-hull except for the pintail 34.
 
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gadangit

Member III
That was/is my belief.

I thought I had previously seen someone on the forums with a 39, who showed a photo of a big thick cored section after drilling for a thru-hull . And there are a couple of posts here on the forum that state the 39 came either cored or solid at various points in the production run.

But other than those tidbits, I'd always believed the 70s boats were all solid-hull except for the pintail 34.

I'm with ya, just adding a data point.
 

Martin King

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
Most of the hulls were solid layup, however customers could special order cored or partially cored, and some 39's and 46's had this.

Martin
 
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