Review of Ericson 29

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

The boat is equipped with 75 liters (19 US gallons, 16 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity.

The Ericson 29 is built with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Fin keel

The Ericson 29 is built with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full 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 even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.32 - 1.42 meter (4.33 - 4.63 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 45 liters (11 US gallons, 9 imperial gallons).

Ericson 29 may be equipped with an inboard Universal Atomic 4 gasoline engine at 30 hp (22 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.2 knots

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Ericson 29 is 1.77, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

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.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Ericson 29 is about 129 kg/cm, alternatively 722 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 129 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 722 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Ericson 29 is 27.5 - 31.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 92% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Ericson 29 is 3.04.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 54% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Ericson 29 is 46%.

This ballast ratio is higher than 79% of all similar sailboat designs. Since the ballast ratio and the righting moment (i.e. better ability to resist heeling) is strongly correlated, a ballast ratio significantly above average indicates a very high ability to resist heeling.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Ericson 29 is 380 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra heavy cruisers'.

7% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Ericson 29 is 14

The relative speed performance is 14 which means that a it is faster than 14% of all similar sailboat designs.

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 21m² (226 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.

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.

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.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Ericson 29 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.

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.