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Very nice - you do excellent work! For others - see his blog on the reconstruction of this E25 CB in the blogs section! This boat was completely overhauled from the hull to the deck to everything in between - quite astounding!

I was at the Seattle Boat Show one day last week, and it would be near impossible to find this level of craftsmanship and overall sailing design for under 75K. And there is very little to choose from, even at the price.
Bruce King designed and EY built small yachts, no matter what the length.

Loren and Sean, how kind of you both! We really appreciate it! You are right, Bruce King and EY designed and built some very nice small yachts.

We were really impressed with how the boat sailed on Lake Michigan in a variety of wind ranges (1-20 knots), and pleasantly surprised that if you had just 4 or 5 knots of wind she moved along really well, the hull was very easily driven considering her rather hefty weight for her size. Below 3-4 knots we just motored, the below deck fuel tank combined with the Honda 9.9 giving us a 125 mile range, and above 18 knots we stayed in port relaxing, shopping, or drinking at the pub. We had nowhere to be in a hurry.

And for all the jokes of "heavy tub of a boat that will never sail to weather with that little centerboard" we endured endlessly back home from the local inland lake guys, we happily discovered that displacement is under rated in so many ways. Not once did we leave the boat feeling overly beat up and tired from being knocked about, which was a pleasant change compared to our Starwind 19. She also tracked very well and went to windward well while exhibiting little side slip. Especially given that she is a 'OMG, Gasp, Centerboard Boat!' Those long multi mile tacks towards a headland gave us good chance to see that. Not that she would track to windward like a modern fin keel, but she performs really well to windward, I think people would be surprised. Personally we are fans of centerboard / fixed lead shoal keel boats, and she is one of the nicest designs of this type we have seen. It sure is nice to drop off 3' of draft at will with no loss of stability thanks to that 2500lbs of lead in her belly. Not that we ever accidentally end up in the wrong area in shallower than expected water..... my navigation is impeccable!

The only negative from a 'modern expectation' standpoint is that when she catches some good wind she heels very easily for the first 10-15 degrees, which we know is off putting to some. It doesn't bother us that a sailboat likes to sail heeled over , after all it doesn't keep tipping over, she starts to really harden up at around 20-25 degrees and just puts her shoulder down and plows on. She only rounded up once on us in a really strong gust in 15-20 knot winds, the rest of the time feeling very under control with an easy slight weather helm. The design has a very nicely balanced sail plan that takes just the lightest touch on the tiller.

Admittedly, most people are shocked to hear that our total cost in this project to date is over $20K (project boat to start, core rebuild, new plumbing, new electric, custom fuel tank, new woodwork inside and out, new rigging, new hardware, new motor, new sails, new portholes, paint, new everything....) and we hadn't added an autopilot or wind sensor yet. We don't mind sharing, if people seem genuinely interested and ask, so others can know what to expect in a similar full rebuild project as it adds up quicker than you think. We also know we could never get our money back if we sold her, but that was NEVER the point, and we never intend to even if we buy something bigger someday. After all, we had a great multi year project restoring her which was fun in itself, we know her inside and out literally trusting her bones, and think she is way prettier than anything new. But perhaps we are biased.....

Again, thanks for the kind comment. We really appreciate it. She really is a nicely designed 25' yacht that can be towed anywhere, I am sure Bruce King and Ericson were proud of her in their day.

I can believe you spent $20k - it shows. The boat looks brand new!