Evelyn 26 Background

[lvktm]

I know this is the 32 forum...but wonder if any thoughts on the 26 or the 25.
Thanks.

[darkstar32170]

They are great little boats. What do you want to know?

Way back in the late 70's/early 80's I was racing in the MORC class in Detroit. I owned a Ranger 26 which had been a hot MORC boat at one time. Then along came the Evelyn 26 and we were toast. The 26 was designed to the MORC rule which promoted great, moderate displacement designs. Its a shame that the class has pretty much died out. The first version I saw was a flush decked, double spreader fractional rig, outboard powered, daggerboard boat. The only time we beat them was a race in which they dropped the daggerboard to the bottom of Lake St. Clair at the leeward mark.

Now I'm in Narragansett Bay and there's another one here. However it has a double spreader masthead rig on a boat with a cabin trunk, fixed keel, and inboard engine. He does well with it despite always racing against larger, faster boats. There just isn't much handicap racing in boats under 30 ft.

I once looked at a 26 from Long Island that had a single spreader fractional rig on a hull with a cabin trunk and daggerboard that was outboard powered. The daggerboard trunk opened into the cabin and only extended about 24 inches above the cabin sole. Long Island Sound PHRF required that they race with the board pinned down. I don't know how it qualified to race though since ORC regulations don't permit open daggerboard trunks.

The 25 is a much different boat (an early ULDB) and is related to the 32-2 and the 42. I've never seen one though there is now one in East Greenwich, RI north of my location. I would think that they would have sailing characteristics very similar to the 32-2.

There is a designation for a 25.5. Having seen photos of one listed for sale I can only say that it looks like the flush deck version of the 26. Perhaps the flush deck 26's were renamed as 25.5's. Though this is an assumption on my part.

There used to be quite a few 26's in Narragansett Bay though I only know of 2 that are still here. I don't know to where they have all gone. Its too bad that there isn't much handicap racing in boats under 30 ft. in the area. There aren't many being built. Who wants to buy a 26 foot boat that costs more that $50k?

[admin]

yeah, no worries about posting here about the Ev26. In fact, I should get up another area for the other designs to exchange info, in lieu of there being anywhere else to do it!

[gfornal]

The Evelyn 26 and 25 are two completely different boats. The 25 is more like the 32. The 25 was designed for beer can racing in WLIS in light air.

The 26 was designed for MORC. It was an earlier design, but has a very good rating in PHRF.

I race against a 26 regularly on my 25.

The 26 are great boats...get it. Just watch out for the decks they are usually very water logged.

[admin]

the 26 is really two fairly different boats....the 26OD and the 26. John Fries sent me electronic files of the original brochures of both these boats...I've been too tied up to put them on the web, but I'll do it tonite!

[admin]

oops...I meant to say the Ev26OD and the Ev26 flush deck...brochures up in a minute.

[admin]

okay, check it out...the brochures can be found at:

http://www.nbayracing.com/thug.htm

(no significance to the "thug" in the URL...it was an old page that I used to play a gag on a friend and it was available for the brochure pages...I'll change it soon)

[darkstar32170]

It funny how one design the 26 wasn't. Along the way Bob Evelyn must have learned that there were more boats to be sold a couple different "flavors" of the "one design."

There is a version of the 26OD here in Wickford, RI that has a double-spreader, masthead spar and an inboard engine. "Shadow Fox" was one of the last 26's built. About 12 years ago I considered purchasing a 26OD that was on the north shore of Long Island. It had a daggerboard, not the fixed keel of the OD. There is a picture of this boat on the 25/26 page of the Evelyn site - the boat is "Blue Streak."

If you ask Bob he would probably confirm that the hulls of both boats are the same. He thought that the cabin trunk design with a little more accommodating interior would have a larger market.

[gfornal]

David,

The 26 OD came about due to changes in the MORC rules. The flat deck which was being built at the time didn't meet a MORC rule change. That is why he came out with the 26OD.

[admin]

If you ask Bob he would probably confirm that the hulls of both boats are the same. He thought that the cabin trunk design with a little more accommodating interior would have a larger market.

Yeah, it's weird but because of the way the waterlines are tilted in John's page captures, it looked to me like the OD had a bit more rocker aft of the keel. But I superimposed the lines over one another and the hull looks pretty much the same...for some reason the LOD looks a little smaller on the OD version but that may be to the dimensional instabilty of the paper these were printed on....take a look at the same webpage,
http://www.nbayracing.com/thug.htm

vast difference with the foils, obviously.

[musicman]

Here are some shots of my 26...it's a bit rough!

[gfornal]

John,

What is the difference between the 26OD Hull and the Flat Deck? Anything other then the foils?

[admin]

John,

What is the difference between the 26OD Hull and the Flat Deck? Anything other then the foils?

see
http://www.nbayracing.com/thug.htm

John, I dont see "Remedy" anywhere on the market...you guys sell her?

tf

[musicman]

Not yet. We did show the boat this weekend though, we'll see what happens...

[Yuri]

I'm love my Evelyn 26. She's not the 'perfect' boat, but no perfect boat exists. She is a looker, and gets lots of attention.
I'm slowly fixing her up as time allows. But even in her present condition, she amazes me at her speed in light air and her incredible responsiveness.
For example, the other day it was blowing very lightly, about 5-6 knots. Just enough for some steady ripples on the water next to our club.
I was with a friend who races often. We were starboard reaching as we approached the entrance to the club, doing maybe 4 knots. Too fast to enter
the fairway. So we sailed about 200 feet past the entrance, running parallel to the outside slips. It was like a high speed fly-by of the club.
My friend asked, 'how tight can she turn around?' I answered: "very tight!" He said, "go ahead, and throw her hard about."
So I did, pulling the main sheet in, while putting the tiller all the way to starboard in one sudden yank. That big fin keel snapped the bow around instantly, the sails swung to starboard, our heads swirled from the cg forces. But we kept so much momentum through the turn that as soon as the sails popped full of wind on the new course,
we were still moving at almost the same speed, not loosing even a knot of speed. As we completed the turn and looked back, all we could see was a circular swirl of water about 10 feet in diameter. The maneuver took less than 8 seconds to complete, it was over before we even knew we were turning. My friend let out a loud Indian war whoop and said, "We just did a perfect donut!'
She is a very exciting boat and I love it.
Yuri