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Old 04-10-2018, 01:05 AM
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ndutton ndutton is offline
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Of the Southern California sailboat manufacturers during the era and style/purpose of your boat, to my knowledge all but one made them by hand, mold to finish. All but one had well engineered and executed hull and deck joints, all could be counted on to get you home in expected coastal conditions, all had decent speed. They all bought their leaky windows from the same vendor, same with engines, tanks, spars, woodwork, fiberglass materials, keels, cushions, etc. The labor force was the same people making the employment rounds from manufacturer to manufacturer. So are Ericsons a solid boat? Yeah, but so are the Cals, Rangers, Islanders, Newports and so on.

It seems every manufacturer had their problems too. Catalina originally designed inferior lower chainplates for their C-30. Once it became apparent they stepped up and designed a robust replacement which many of us on this forum have installed. Since we are talking about Ericsons, Alan's (Ericson 26-2) hull was porous like an ant farm from the transom to the rudder tube, like a couple of feet. The only thing keeping his boat afloat was the bilge pump. It took quite an effort to fix with an involved technique and custom tooling. It was a pretty serious fiberglass defect. Had you read about that prior to considering an Ericson would it have swayed you against them?

A testament to the build quality of all of the manufacturers is that their products are still sailing today 45 years later. And for those brands that receive negative comments, please know that there is nothing as detrimental to a boat as the owner. Said another way, don't blame the boat for the result of the owners "care."
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Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others

Last edited by ndutton; 04-10-2018 at 01:08 AM.
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