# WHAT''S AN ETAP?



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

Do any of you own an etap saw a couple on the net. seems to be rather inexpensive for such a new boat. Is it something to stay away from,not sure if it would pass the good ole boat test.A brag mag gave them an award for inovation(vertical tiller,unsinkable(they said that of the titanic)and something else but can''trecall it now)Are they Racers,Cruisers, or something in between?


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## SailorMitch (Nov 18, 2005)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

Etap''s are made in Belgium and have been around a long time. They make very good boats from what I have seen. The unsinkability comes from injecting foam between two skins of the hull -- thus you lose some interior volume.

Etap was in the US market in the ''80''s and left when the recession hit. They are making a comeback now with some new models. The new 37 looks interesting on the website, and the 39 is a knockout boat.

I know a woman who bought a 1980''s vintage Etap 30 a couple of years ago and loves it. She bought it from a couple who bought a new Etap 34 that was in the Annapolis boat show two years ago. The 30 sails nicely. I can''t vouch for the sailing characterisics of the others.

The vertical tiller is very cool in operation. Looks and acts very much like a joystick in an airplane.

One big problem with them is dealer support. Right now the only dealer I know of is the importer in Maine. But they do work with local marinas to commission boats. It just so happens that many of the boats come in through the port of Baltimore and a marina up the creek from me commissions the ones for the east coast. I know the owner of that marina and he is very high on the boats. He lets me snoop around on them occasionally.

The Etaps have several unique features that may not appeal to everyone, but they are worth a look IMHO.


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## Denr (Feb 7, 2001)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

ETAP is an electronic beer dispenser


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## SailorMitch (Nov 18, 2005)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

Denr,

I was all set for an Etaphuntalina from you. You''re slipping!


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## kokopelli9 (Aug 16, 2002)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

He is slipping isn''t he? Not been the same since he got back from vacation... too much of the good life, I guess.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

Ken, I''ll second Mitch''s description. Etaps are a great example, sailing and engineering qualities aside, of how stillborn innovation is among the household brands of sailboats these days. But you will have to make do with less volume in the boat. Based on my "let''s take that, we''ve got the room" tendencies, that''s not a bad thing.

Jack


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

A short write-up of the Etap 32 can be read in the January 2003 issue of Cruising World magazine. It''s featured as one of the mag''s picks for Boat of the Year.


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## SailorMitch (Nov 18, 2005)

*WHAT''''S AN ETAP?*

Actually, the Cruising World article is in the February 2003 issue (page 108). They gave the Etap 32 their award for most innovative boat in their 2003 Boat of the Year contest.


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## cheapshacht (Dec 11, 2006)

*Etap 30's are Great Boats -- Though a Little Rare!*



SailorMitch said:


> I know a woman who bought a 1980''s vintage Etap 30 a couple of years ago and loves it.  She bought it from a couple who bought a new Etap 34 that was in the Annapolis boat show two years ago. The 30 sails nicely. I can''t vouch for the sailing characterisics of the others.


My wife and I bought this particular boat recently. The previous owner you speak of took exceptional care of the boat. Although we've only had the boat out twice since we bought in early December, it sails very well. The interior is nice and cozy, and isn't significantly smaller than other boats her size. I will say that you lose more interior space from the low deck house and the wide decks than you do from the double hull feature. Most of the foam is concentrated in the ends of the boat, though there is some distributed throughout amidships.

The only real drawback to the boat are the short genny lead tracks. They don't leave much room for adjustment and adding longer tracks is impractical given the deck configuration and construction.

cheap

Etap 30 "Cadence II", USA108


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## Giulietta (Nov 14, 2006)

The Etaps were real popular here in Europe in the mid 80's. I had a lot of friends that had all kinds of ETAP... They all had a red stripe on the hull.

Altough its true they do not sink, a real life test was done to one here in the end of the 80's and was deliberatley sunk...

It does not sink but water inside gets to above your knees. The water level inside will raise to the seating part of the sofas.

The theory they had is that its safer to stay on the boat and take a beating than to abandon ship...however....for it to work, the sails must be down otherwise, it can capsize and stay......

They still sell and must admit they look better now than they ever did..

Here they are classics...you have a good boat...all the best with it

http://www.etapyachting.com/index.php?pageID=28

G


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

A few other things about Etaps.

They tend to have a bit less interior volume, compared to other boats in the same size range, since the hull is considerably thicker than that of a standard boat. 

One reason the Etaps seem to hold their resale value well is due to the extremely rigid hull that their construction gives them. 

Essentially, the Etap can be described as either a double hulled boat, with foam between the hulls or a very thick cored hull—depending on how you want to look at it. 

The exterior skin on an Etap hull is almost as thick as the hull on a standard solid fiberglass hull from what I've been told. Needless to say, the Etaps tend to be a bit heavier than some comparably sized boats of similar design.


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

Question:
Are they really a cored hull with adhesion between the foam and 2 hulls or is there really just a hull liner with foam filling? I always thought it was the latter. 
How do you get at the exterior hull for leaks, fittings etc. over time?


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## PBzeer (Nov 11, 2002)

"ETAP Yachting decided on a unique, technically refined construction method known as the ETAP ship-in-ship construction. In the ETAP ship-in-ship construction, the deck and hull are double-skinned. The hollow space between the two decks and two hulls is filled with closed-cell polyurethane foam. The closed cell structure is almost entirely non-absorbent and gives the boat sufficient buoyancy."

From the ETAP website.


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## Idiens (Jan 9, 2007)

Here's a couple of pictures taken 1n the ETAP factory.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/Idiens/PIC00091.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/Idiens/PIC00096.jpg

The first is an example of the inner hull and the second is of boats going out the door.

ETAP claim that the water take-up of the foam they use between the hulls is only 1.5% in 10 years. They admit that what is not designed into the boat is difficult to add afterwards.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Cam-

From what my friend's surveyor said, it sounds like the foam is bonded to both hulls... and basically, as ideins said... adding anything that isn't provided for initially is relatively difficult to do.


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## stlcat22 (Nov 19, 2006)

My live aboard sailing class was on an Etap 37. Seems to be a very interesting boat. A few details: 

The head/galley/nav section of the boat had standing headroom for me (6'4.5") but forward of that has a lower roof. The two sinks are set in a centerline island which I'm still not conviced really makes sense, especially since the island does not cover the area directly behind the stove/range. At anchor or tied up it seemed to work just fine.

For shoal draft, our boat featured twin keels connected by a bulb. Our instructor said that the 32' version with these keels was a joy to run even in reverse. Our boat was very maneuverable but I guess not the the same extreme.

Another thing that didn't come up but might is that like many modern boats the bilge is very shallow. In this case there are no limber holes connecting the various areas and there was a hose you could manauver around to get the bilge pump to clear out any water.

Someone mentioned lack of dealers, as far as I know the charter company I was with also sells the Etaps. They are in the Ft Myers area.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Etap 30 - Local to Chesapeake Bay*

I'm looking for owners of any Etap 30's on the Chesapeake Bay, especially those that race them in PHRF.

Also, I'm interested to learn if anybody has recommendations on rig tension numbers and rig tune.

Take care,
Carl

Etap 30, "Cadence II"
USA108


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## SailorMitch (Nov 18, 2005)

Carl,

I know of one just south of Annapolis -- Herrington Harbor area. The guy posts a lot on Sailing Anarchy and I will track him down over there to hook up with you. Current name of the boat is "Duck Sloop", which I think this guy wants to change for some reason?

Ooops...just noticed you are that guy!!! So never mind. You changed usernames on me, Cheap.


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## Cruisingdad (Jul 21, 2006)

Etap= Portugese racing boat without a removeable anchor roller. (smile).


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

SailorMitch said:


> Carl,
> 
> I know of one just south of Annapolis -- Herrington Harbor area. The guy posts a lot on Sailing Anarchy and I will track him down over there to hook up with you. Current name of the boat is "Duck Sloop", which I think this guy wants to change for some reason?
> 
> Ooops...just noticed you are that guy!!! So never mind. You changed usernames on me, Cheap.


Sorry about that! Yup, I'm one and the same. "Duck Sloop" is now "Cadence II" and we sail out of Herrington Harbour South.

I had heard that there was another Etap 30 on the West River but I haven't been able to locate any additional information on it. If you hear of anyone with an Etap 30 on the Bay (or someplace else for that matter), please let me know. There aren't a lot of us in the States!

Carl

Etap 30, USA 108
"Cadence II"


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## SailorMitch (Nov 18, 2005)

cgschaefer said:


> Sorry about that! Yup, I'm one and the same. "Duck Sloop" is now "Cadence II" and we sail out of Herrington Harbour South.
> 
> I had heard that there was another Etap 30 on the West River but I haven't been able to locate any additional information on it. If you hear of anyone with an Etap 30 on the Bay (or someplace else for that matter), please let me know. There aren't a lot of us in the States!
> 
> ...


Carl,

Just a couple of weeks ago I talked to the first owner of your boat (Al Horton) at Oak Harbor Marina in Pasadena, MD. Al had his Etap 34 hauled there for bottom painting. he's a good guy. Anyway, I mentioned that his old boat was at Herrington Harbor and he said that is where he kept her when he first bought her. Small world, huh?

Fair winds!


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## cheapshacht (Dec 11, 2006)

SailorMitch said:


> Carl,
> 
> Just a couple of weeks ago I talked to the first owner of your boat (Al Horton) at Oak Harbor Marina in Pasadena, MD. Al had his Etap 34 hauled there for bottom painting. he's a good guy. Anyway, I mentioned that his old boat was at Herrington Harbor and he said that is where he kept her when he first bought her. Small world, huh?
> 
> Fair winds!


It is indeed.

After nearly a full season sailing my Etap 30, I can say that I truly like the boat. She sails quite well and she is surprisingly easy to sail single or shorthanded. Although she isn't a racing boat, we have raced her occasionally on Herring Bay. We haven't done especially well (finishing most often in mid-fleet) but I suspect that it isn't her rating but the fact that she has a 2-blade fixed prop and a very bagged out 140% genoa (which, by the way, is the largest headsail you can fly on this boat, given the original genny track placement and length). I hope to replace the sail with a new one next year and replace the current prop with a Geartec folder.

We have one big project this winter - replace the wood cockpit seats. They are beginning to rot. Otherwise, the boat is in great shape and we're pretty happy with our purchase.

Take care,
Carl

Cadence II, Etap 30, USA108


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Update on my Etap 30*

Well, it seems that a new folding prop on the Saildrive and a new head sail from North Sails is all it took to totally transform this boat from a very nice cruiser to a very competitive and fast boat. We gained speed with the folding prop and "point" with the new headsail. She can keep up with boats with much greater LOA. We're doing very well in local beer can and distance races (she really likes the distance races) and we're heading down to Screwpile in a few weeks.

It's too bad there aren't more of these boats in the States. I would love to start a owners association for owners in the States.

Take care,
Carl

Carl Schaefer
"Cadence II"
Etap 30, USA108


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