Introduction/Transporting an Evelyn
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:03 amHi folks:
I just purchased "Marisol" from Jay Booker a few weeks ago and am very excited to get working on her.
For the last several seasons I have raced my Ericson 35-2 on Lake Michigan, out of Waukegan Harbor in Illinois. ( http://www.ablboats.com/details.php?id=86730 ) As much as I love this boat, she is not really a round the buoys racing machine, especially given the predominantly light air conditions we have on the Lake, although she is a great port-to-port racer.
My search for a pure race boat began this summer as it became clear that the PHRF ratings were not doing me any favors given our predominantly light air conditions and so I created a spreadsheet that eventually included 43 boat (greater than or equal to 30 feet but less than 35), with all of the attendant data that I gathered from the New England PHRF ratings and http://www.sailboatdata.com. Countless ratios and formula comparisons consistently rated 5 boats at the top of the list . . . the J-29 (an exception to the length criterion), Olson 30, Evelyn 32-2, Soverel 33 and the Mirage 338. Oh yeah, and the boats needed to cost less than $30000 . . . preferably way less, which of course left out things like the Melges boats.
My final analysis included polling my local sailmakers, a very well known sailing personality, and the best local sailors I knew, to get a handle on some of the intangibles that my numerical analysis missed. This poll consistently favored 3 boats, the Evelyn 32-2, J-29 full masthead rig and the Soverel 33. So I limited my search to these three boats, figuring I would be happy with any of the 3 that would turn up in my scouring of the market. I identified a few Evelyns and several local Soverel 33 . . . when I polled the Sailing Anarchy folks . . . the opinions pushed me towards the Evelyn and here I am, the proud owner of a new boat. (more below)
I just purchased "Marisol" from Jay Booker a few weeks ago and am very excited to get working on her.
For the last several seasons I have raced my Ericson 35-2 on Lake Michigan, out of Waukegan Harbor in Illinois. ( http://www.ablboats.com/details.php?id=86730 ) As much as I love this boat, she is not really a round the buoys racing machine, especially given the predominantly light air conditions we have on the Lake, although she is a great port-to-port racer.
My search for a pure race boat began this summer as it became clear that the PHRF ratings were not doing me any favors given our predominantly light air conditions and so I created a spreadsheet that eventually included 43 boat (greater than or equal to 30 feet but less than 35), with all of the attendant data that I gathered from the New England PHRF ratings and http://www.sailboatdata.com. Countless ratios and formula comparisons consistently rated 5 boats at the top of the list . . . the J-29 (an exception to the length criterion), Olson 30, Evelyn 32-2, Soverel 33 and the Mirage 338. Oh yeah, and the boats needed to cost less than $30000 . . . preferably way less, which of course left out things like the Melges boats.
My final analysis included polling my local sailmakers, a very well known sailing personality, and the best local sailors I knew, to get a handle on some of the intangibles that my numerical analysis missed. This poll consistently favored 3 boats, the Evelyn 32-2, J-29 full masthead rig and the Soverel 33. So I limited my search to these three boats, figuring I would be happy with any of the 3 that would turn up in my scouring of the market. I identified a few Evelyns and several local Soverel 33 . . . when I polled the Sailing Anarchy folks . . . the opinions pushed me towards the Evelyn and here I am, the proud owner of a new boat. (more below)