Feedback on Ericson 30+, Tartan 3000, Cal 31, Pearson 32

[SESailor]

I’m a vintage sailor looking as some classic plastic for my next boat. I’ve spent several months researching cruiser/racers in the 30-32 ft range. These are the four finalists that fit my comfort, size, performance and cost parameters. The boat will be docked on a large southeast lake and used for day sailing, limited weekend cruising and club racing. I seldom sail with experienced crew, so I prefer a boat with a cockpit traveler and control lines led aft.

I’m looking for feedback on these boats from folks with direct experience. They all appear to be well built and perform well. Two are keel stepped, two are not; one is fractional rigged, three are not; all are early to mid-1980’s. Thanks for your thoughtful comments!

[imiloa]

For information and feedback on Ericson vessels you should visit the Ericson owner site w w w . e r i c s o n y a c h t s . o r g. It is an excellent resource. Good luck in your search for the ideal boat.

[FrankLanger]

We are very pleased with our 1984 Ericson 30+.

We love our boat, due to the strong quality construction, nice lines, beautiful teak below (but not dark looking) and perhaps above all, her performance. She is quick, responsive, yet solid in winds to 30 knots and 6 foot waves (she would likely be fine in more than that, but that's been our maximum to date). She speeds up quickly, and easily exceeds her rated 6.7 hull speed; we frequently sail at 7.5 knots in winds of about 15 knots. She is so well balanced that she almost sails herself in these conditions!

Mainly it's my wife and I (in our 50s) aboard, but we have had six adults aboard for daysails and five of us (wife and I plus 3 adult kids) aboard for a week, without difficulty--cosy, but quite manageable.

Our only criticism is the relative shortage of storage space, compared with some other boats. The water tank in the starboard cabin locker takes up that space; the holding tank and optional water tank uses up most of the under V-berth space (though there are a couple of smaller lockers there) and the starboard quarterberth means we have only a port cockpit locker. The port locker is very large/deep, the port cabin lockers under the area where the settee/table are are quite spacious. And there is a hanging locker across from the head. There is cupboard space in the galley, but there aren't the little drawers that one sometimes finds on boats.

However, we still love our boat and would certainly buy her again, despite the space challenges (and we live aboard for a couple of weeks in the summer).

I can't compare with the other boats you mention as I haven't any experience with them (though they also seem to have a good reputation). I have frequently read that Ericsons were ahead of their time in innovation and design--having owned one, I would agree.

Good luck in your search!

Frank.