# Is this Sloop an Ericson 35?



## L124C (Oct 4, 2007)

I've always admired the clean, simple lines on this boat. Talked briefly to the owner once and I thought he said she was an Ericson 35. That surprised me, as I've looked at Ericson 35's and haven't found any that look like this! If you know and have any other info, please share.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

The split cockpit is similar, a shot of the transom would help, but this is not a E 35 MKII. It may be an earlier version, based on what can be seen of the cockpit configuration.

Here's another view of a E35 MKI... can you peek under the tarp for confirmation? the transom looks better.... but the sheer stripe isn't quite right...


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## jameso (Dec 5, 2011)

Ranger?


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## jgeissinger (Feb 25, 2002)

It's an Ericson 35-1, made from Alberg 35 molds (sort of). They made about 45 of them in 1967-68.


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## L124C (Oct 4, 2007)

jgeissinger said:


> It's an Ericson 35-1, made from Alberg 35 molds (sort of). They made about 45 of them in 1967-68.


Thanks! That info will allow me to go to the Ericson Owners site and find out more. What I've learned so far is that 500 lbs of keel was eliminated from the Alberg to make the Ericson. The ports were also changed. Is this the "sort of" you referred to? Was it a good boat and why was it only produced for a year?


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## KIVALO (Nov 2, 2011)

Those are S&S designs, right?


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

KIVALO said:


> Those are S&S designs, right?


No.... early models appear to have been Alberg, or at least Alberg based, most Ericsons are designed by Bruce King, with a few models in the early 80s from Ron Holland (E 33 and E 36) - quick boats, btw.

I don't believe any Ericsons were from S&S


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## KIVALO (Nov 2, 2011)

Learn something new everyday. I always thought the Albergs were an S&S design.

Thanks for the info Faster.


Brad
s/v KIVALO


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## Sic Semper Tyrannis (Feb 19, 2012)

Alberg 35's were done by Carl Alberg but the hull form is VERY close to a S&S Pilot ( Hinckley Pilot) .

I've kept an eye out for the ericson version and have never seen one in the flesh. Hadn't heard they were 500 lbs lighter in the keel. Wonder how that affects the boat overall? I don't feel the A35 is overly stiff, but she isn't what I would call tender.

I own a 1962 Alberg 35.


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## L124C (Oct 4, 2007)

The S&S issue is interesting, because the lines on the Ericson remind me of my Yankee 30 (S&S design). Though, the Ericson is even a little more elegant in my opinion. Every time I pass the Ericson, I think "damn, if the Yankee was just 5 feet longer, I'd never get rid of her!" This doesn't make the Ericson a S&S design of course, but the similarities are striking. Its funny...I don't care about how cars, clothes or other things I consider superficial, look. But when I see lines I like on a sail boat, I'm thinking "Oh Yeah!". The saying is that if a boat looks right, it probably is right. But then....they say that if you can sail the SF bay,you can sail anywhere. While literally true, as an experienced SF Bay Sailor, I think that is the biggest egotistical load of BS I've ever heard! I certainly don't consider myself a seasoned offshore Skipper!
Anyway, I digress! One feature I'm assuming the Ericson has that the Yankee does not is an encapsulated Keel. Gotta love that in an old boat!


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## L124C (Oct 4, 2007)

Sic Semper Tyrannis said:


> Hadn't heard they were 500 lbs lighter in the keel. Wonder how that affects the boat overall? I don't feel the A35 is overly stiff, but she isn't what I would call tender.


The boats stats and one version of her history, including the comment about the elimination of ballast are here:
ERICSON 35-1 sailboat on sailboatdata.com
Interestingly, the ballast is the same (5300) as the Alberg, yet the displacement is 600 lbs lighter on the Ericson, giving it a Balast/displacement ratio of 44.17%, compared to 42.06%. Don't know what it means, but it's interesting! Maybe the shape of the keel was changed (cutaway?) while still using the same amount of led.


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

L124C said:


> The boats stats and one version of her history, including the comment about the elimination of ballast are here:
> ERICSON 35-1 sailboat on sailboatdata.com
> Interestingly, the ballast is the same (5300) as the Alberg, yet the displacement is 600 lbs lighter on the Ericson, giving it a Balast/displacement ratio of 44.17%, compared to 42.06%. Don't know what it means, but it's interesting! Maybe the shape of the keel was changed (cutaway?) while still using the same amount of led.


Any boat that Bruce King was involved with is going to be beautiful - he is a true artist. His personal boat, Unicorn, was for sale a while back. Lots of pictures in the ad - it was one of the most beautiful boats I've ever seen.  Well worth selling ones soul for.


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## SlowButSteady (Feb 17, 2010)

SloopJonB said:


> Any boat that Bruce King was involved with is going to be beautiful - he is a true artist. His personal boat, Unicorn, was for sale a while back. Lots of pictures in the ad - it was one of the most beautiful boats I've ever seen.  Well worth selling ones soul for.


I saw _Unicorn_ at the Newport Beach Boat Show a few years ago. It looked even better in person than it did in the ads. She really is a thing of beauty.


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## L124C (Oct 4, 2007)

Here is a link to pictures on Ebay of Unicorn.41' Bruce King Ketch "Unicorn", 1976, total restoration to modern standards 41' Bruce King Ketch "Unicorn", 1976, total restoration to modern standards | eBay. I found it on a Sailing Anarchy thread, and had to laugh at one of the posts. "Unicorn is a beautiful boat, but whoever put the dodger on her should be shot!".:laugher I concur! 
On the other hand, she has too much wood on her for me to even consider maintaining. I often say that I love to admire wooden boats from afar. So that just goes to show, while I love classic lines, I have my limits!


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Pretty boat.. agree about the upkeep but sure like that 'wood on white' interior treatment. Much cheerier than a lot of teak cellars that some boats end up with.

Bruce King was involved in a series of 100+ footers along the same lines.. I forget who built them - equally gorgeous on a 'other world' scale!

Named Whitehawk:


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

L124C said:


> Here is a link to pictures on Ebay of Unicorn.41' Bruce King Ketch "Unicorn", 1976, total restoration to modern standards 41' Bruce King Ketch "Unicorn", 1976, total restoration to modern standards | eBay.


Thanks for those - I rest my case! Looking at the "1/2 angle" of the bow in that starboard aft quarter shot sure shows a difference compared to older clipper bows doesn't it?



> I found it on a Sailing Anarchy thread, and had to laugh at one of the posts. "Unicorn is a beautiful boat, but whoever put the dodger on her should be shot!".:laugher I concur!


I can't recall ever seeing a dodger that didn't add a bunch of ugly to a boat.



> On the other hand, she has too much wood on her for me to even consider maintaining. I often say that I love to admire wooden boats from afar. So that just goes to show, while I love classic lines, I have my limits!


Yeah, she's ALL wood but at least it's epoxy cold mould so you don't have to worry about re-fastening & re-planking. That varnish would be like painting the Golden Gate bridge though - just keep on doing laps. If I lived in S.F. I might consider a boat like that - the climate there seems quite benign to varnish and wood, certainly compared to here.

As an aside, I heard that Ferenc Mate built a boat much like that when he sold Warm Rain. I was told it lives in Duncan or Cow Bay or somewhere around there - any of you Islanders know anything about it?


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## SlowButSteady (Feb 17, 2010)

A few things I can recall from seeing _Unicorn_ "in the flesh", so to speak:

- The cockpit seemed HUGE, but not terribly deep. If you look closely at those pics, the forward part of the cockpit forms a sort of big bridge-deck. That makes room for lounging and kicking back, leaving the aft part of the cockpit for sail-handling, et cetera. The seats in the aft part of the cockpit could easily accommodate 6 or 8 people, as I recall. I imagine that one could daysail with 10 or 12 people without it seeming overly crowded.

- I don't recall the dodger being there when I saw her. But, I do seem to recall there being a bimini over at least part of the cockpit.

- I saw _Unicorn_ before a lot of the upgrades mentioned in the add had been done, so she did seem a little "dated". However, everything seemed first rate and very well planned out. I can't really tell from the pics, but I hope they didn't modernize her too much. The over-all "package" was very nice the way it was when I saw her.

- The interior layout was very nice. The "Master" stateroom is just aft of the companionway, with what looked to be a queen-size berth to starboard. This is tucked in under that raised part of the cockpit, with full-height headroom just on the port side of the stateroom (under the extension of the coach roof to port and aft of the companionway, if you look at the pics). That might seem a tad claustrophobic to some, but the way it was done looked pretty slick to be.

- The rest of the interior seemed very well planned (as I would expect from Bruce King). The galley might be a bit small in comparison to some modern production boats, but the layout seemed very sensible.

- I'm surprised _Unicorn_ has been on the market for so long. I don't know it she was purchased after I saw her, and is now being resold, or what. But, she seems to have been on the market more or less continuously for at least five or six years.


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

SlowButSteady said:


> A few things I can recall from seeing _Unicorn_ "in the flesh", so to speak:
> 
> - The cockpit seemed HUGE, but not terribly deep. If you look closely at those pics, the forward part of the cockpit forms a sort of big bridge-deck. That makes room for lounging and kicking back, leaving the aft part of the cockpit for sail-handling, et cetera. The seats in the aft part of the cockpit could easily accommodate 6 or 8 people, as I recall. I imagine that one could daysail with 10 or 12 people without it seeming overly crowded.
> 
> ...


I'd imagine price and varnish scare a *lot* of people off.


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## SlowButSteady (Feb 17, 2010)

SloopJonB said:


> I'd imagine price and varnish scare a *lot* of people off.


Maybe. But I've seen boats with a LOT more exterior varnished wood. And the Price never seemed terribly high to me, compared to some other (much uglier) boats of that size (granted, she's way out of my range).


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## L124C (Oct 4, 2007)

SloopJonB said:


> Yeah, she's ALL wood but at least it's epoxy cold mold so you don't have to worry about re-fastening & re-planking. That varnish would be like painting the Golden Gate bridge though - just keep on doing laps. If I lived in S.F. I might consider a boat like that - the climate there seems quite benign to varnish and wood, certainly compared to here.


Oh...so thats what "Cold Mold" is! I've never heard the term and was wondering. I saw "Mahogany planking" and was confused. Still wouldn't (couldn't!) touch her with a ten foot pole, but thanks for clearing that up!

BTW, I love the description in the ad that she was maintained "with an open checkbook". A boat yards dream, a boat owners nightmare. Unless of course the boat owner has a much larger check book than me! Most wooden boat owners I've met do.

Maybe I'm being too picky, but I found it amazing that with the attention to detail they gave that boat, they left the propane tanks uncovered in the back of the cockpit. Maybe there is a technical reason, but it would be so easy to provide removable trim on the the front of the compartment. When I'm sitting in THAT cockpit, I don't want to be looking a propane tanks. Though...it looks like they varnished the rack they sit in!


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

L124C said:


> Oh...so thats what "Cold Mold" is! I've never heard the term and was wondering.


Actually, the boat was built using the epoxy / cold *MOULD* method.

I believe cold *MOLD* is what you find in the back of your fridge when you haven't cleaned it for a while.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

SloopJonB said:


> Actually, the boat was built using the epoxy / cold *MOULD* method.
> 
> I believe cold *MOLD* is what you find in the back of your fridge when you haven't cleaned it for a while.


Jon.... you're talking to Americans!.. they think colour is color.... and a harbour is harbor.... etc etc...


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

Faster said:


> Jon.... you're talking to Americans!.. they think colour is color.... and a harbour is harbor.... etc etc...


Yeah, I only made the comment because I noticed the spelling of "mould" had been "corrected" when my post was replied to.


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