Quote:
Originally Posted by johnshasteen
Jeff, you added the vintage Pearsons, but left off the same period Bristols - same construction, same hull shape, same guys designed them (Alberg, Alden, Herreshoff , Hood). Coincidence? I think not!! The same guys built them. Clint and Everett sold Pearson to Grumman in the 60's and started Bristol Marine.
You can find a nice "first generation" Bristol 30 or 32 in that price range as well (and built by the Pearsons, not Grumman) - I know where a very nice B30 is for sail at well under $10K.
|
John:
I'm not exactly sure precisely what you are referring to in your comment above. When I responded to the question back in 2002, I was answering a specific question about the Pearson 30, which I assumed was the 1970's era Pearson 30 and not the earlier 30 foot Wanderer/Coaster or later Flyer or 303. At the time that I posted my earlier list of boats, the Bristol 33 was over the arbitrary $25,000 budget that we were discussing, and I am not a fan of the smaller Bristols as distance cruisers.
Just to clarify some earlier comments, the earliest Pearsons were designed by Alberg, Tripp and Rhodes. When the Pearson cousins split up Clint used Alberg to design the first Bristol that went into production, the Bristol 27 before moving on to Alden, Hood, Herreshoff and then back to the Hood/Dieter Empacher team.
You are right that when Clint first started Bristol, he was guilty of the same sloppy build techniques employed when he was at Pearson Yachts, but I would argue that over time his build quality and the quality of the designs definitely improved.
I think that this improvement probably began during the period that he employed Halsey Herreshoff, and I think that the Herreshoff designed Bristol 23, 26, and 34/34 were some of the best designs that Bristol ever produced, while the later Hood designed 35.5, 38.8, and 41.1 were probably the best built Bristols.
Jeff