BoatBanter.com - ECHO REBORN

Joe wrote
"Bart Senior" wrote

I looked up the base PHRF ratings for New England.

http://www.phrfne.org/baseh.htm

And I was pleased to see this!

ERICSON 46 72

Soooo you race huh?

Nice looking boat, what size is it?

Joe

I have no immediate plans to race any of my boats this year.
I may crew on an Express 37, but I'm not sure I'll have time.
At some point I will race my boats. There is much involved
in that. Unless you are racing one-design, you need to be
rated by whatever standard you are using, PHRF for example.
You need your sails measured. And some of this stuff won't
get done unless you join the association and pay some dues.
For offshore, you need to comply with various safety standards
and that is smart, but expensive.

The boat is 45' 10".

I like what I call performance sailing. Not quite as serious as
racing, but a fast as I can reasonably go given whatever crew
size I have, and fewer headaches or paperwork.

This big boat I wanted because I felt limited in some areas
--night sailing, and cruising. I also figured that if the boat was
big enough to live on it is more like a second home that could
be moved. My brother Dwight wants to go to Block Island,
and he won't have to twist my arm as its on the way to Maine,
and has a great harbor. He can bring his tandem kayak too!

ECHO is big and comfortable. Dwight, Dawson-a friend,
Dwight's two 80 lb dogs he found in the wild, and I were all
out today, and had tons of room. The dogs found places
under the cockpit in the aft cabin while we dodged south and
then east to miss the lighting, but got soaked.

It is easy for any number of people to rest below. One
more person along would have been nice.

Dawson crewed on a schooner in his youth,up in Maine.
He said something about this being his first chance to drive
a big boat, and I gave him the helm almost the whole trip, and
he loved it--even in the rain. A memorable trip for us all.

The main went up easy, and the drifter was big, but pretty
light and easy to set. Dawson got to feel the power the boat
could develop. I got to play with sail trim. And I now know
how to get more out of the boat.

We made a hasty departure as tide and timing were good.
We had a few little minor mechanical problems, nothing
that can't be fixed for next time out.

I got to experiment with different ways of using my organ
grinder. The biggest of the other deck winches could not
haul in my drifter when we tacked, not without agonizing effort.
The organ grinder is at least a foot across if not bigger. In
low gear triming was effortlessly, no fatigue. It made sail trim
fun and easy.

ECHO's been a fun project--but it's not over. Lots more to
do on the interior.

Bart