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Review of Ericson 26


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Ericson 26 aka Ericson 26 Mk II is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect Bruce King in the early seventies. The Ericson 26 is built by the American yard Ericson Yachts.

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.


Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with 4 berths, a galley, 68.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.


Rig
Rig
Rig of Ericson 26 anno 1988.

The Ericson 26 is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.


Keel

Fin keel

The Ericson 26 is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.50 - 1.60 meter (4.92 - 5.22 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

Ericson 26 may be equipped with an inboard Westerbeke 10 diesel engine at 10 hp (7 kW). Calculated max speed is about 4.8 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 57.0 liters (15 US gallons, 12 imperial gallons).


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Ericson 26 is 2.13, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.3 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Ericson 26 is about 126 kg/cm, alternatively 706 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 126 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 706 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Ericson 26 is 18.0.

Low High 42% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 42% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Ericson 26 is 2.78.

Slim Wide 79% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 79% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Ericson 26 is 43%.

Low High 66% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 66% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Ericson 26 is 222 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 54% 0 50 100
54% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Ericson 26 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 17.2, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.2.

Low High 62% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 62% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 58% 0 50 100
The Ericson 26 has more rig than 58% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 22m2 (236 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 25.3 m(83.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard25.3 m(83.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard25.3 m(83.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 7.8 m(25.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet7.8 m(25.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 19.6 m(64.4 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet17.3 m(56.7 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham3.2 m(10.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap6.4 m(21.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.4 m(21.0 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Ericson 26 (Bruce King) it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References