Keep in mind that all of the following is a discussion of boats built
before 1978. After that, all bets are off.

Cal's are faster and a bit stronger and Ericson has the cushy appeal.
They are really nice inside where cal's are rally bare bones. They are
both great boats though and to say one is better then the other is just
a matter of where the swing of needs is.

If you get a jensonmar marine boat of any kind that was built before
1978 you will not go wrong. They made most Rangers'; most Cal's some
Ericson's, some Islander's and a few others. You can tell where they
were made by taking a rubbing of the serial number off the stern or
looking on the paperwork made a boat. Most states will list the boat
yard because of the legalities of chartering a boat with an American
laid keel.

A friend with an Ericson 41 (older one) weathered Hurricane Andrew
while in the anchorage just outside of Dinner Key Marina with 3
anchors. (Yes the anchoring was the main reason) but the Ericson did
fine. That's in opposition to a boat that had its mast broken off
when Katrina passed over Miami last month. (Katrina was only 90 mph
when it crossed Miami)

Some of the Cal's are much nicer inside then others. I have a 3-30 that
was so bare inside when I bought her that I gutted her and rebuilt the
entire interior. Some of the 34-foot and bigger are really nice. The
C-40 that wins all the races is plain but the C-39 has a ton more room,
is screaming fast and really plush.

If you look up Bill (william) Lapworth you'll find a plethora of
articles on him and his boats. You should be able to find a bunch of
pictures too. They are really well built. As a testament to that, last
summer my boat was in Port Charlotte Boat Storage, right next to Punta
Gorda FL. Charley came through and tornadoes ripped about 30 boats to
shreds. A 42-foot sloop landed ON my boat, knocking it off the stands.
There was some damage but nothing I wasn't able to fix myself.

I think Cal's are the perfect mach of speed and strength but it is
really a matter of taste and needs. If you want more comforts I would
lean towards Ericson's and not worry at all. If you want speed lean
toward Cal and not yet mentioned, if you don't mind ugly and want a
brick house, get an old Columbia but the wiring is hard to get to. They
have the space of most condominiums and they are built like someone
needed to get rid of as much fiberglass as they could. I think, though,
that they have a reputation for not sinking because they are so ugly
that the water rejects them :-)

One last thought - If you think you might want to rebuild the interior
of any boat, let me try to talk you out of it. I did the work with a
few friends that were great carpenters and it took 3 moths of intense
labor to complete. The cost, even with a lot of freebees from my
friends was about $15,000! That is just too much time and money for me
to ever want to do again.

Good luck finding the right boat.