Alberg/Ericson Model 30?

[PDX]

I just saw a flash screen on the home page of a boat labeled, "Alberg/Ericson Model 30." Can anyone enlighten me as to the identity or history of this boat?

This is not the Bruce King designed Ericson 30-1 (1967-69). Not only is the cabin top wrong (bi-level like a Pearson Triton) but the hull is wrong also. King's original 30 had more sheer as well as a finer entry.

So, did Ericson market an Alberg 30 knock off in the days before King went to work for them? The Alberg 35 saga is well known. I wasn't aware Ericson did anything similar with an Alberg 30.

 

[Guy Stevens]

The way I heard the story

Was that it was the actual molds for the Alberg 35 that were used, and there was a series of interesting lawsuits around the boat, one about the fact that the hull molds were the same, and another that the stripe looked too much like another yacht manufactures trademark stripe....

Guy

 

[Loren Beach]

Lost History

I would imagine that a LOT of boat building information is lost after 40+ years. Way cool to know the details, but the chances fade steadily with passing time.

An aside:
I recall that some years ago there was a book out that promoted the "birth" of the production FRP boat. The author placed it with the Pearson bros on the east coast. A number of older sailors in the NW complained that Yacht Constructors in PDX was first, and for larger boats I believe it.

And then there were the smaller FRP boats, and Ranger Boats @ Kent WA was started sometime in the late 40's, by three mustered-out Army Aircorp bomber vets. I recall with a chuckle the time that Jenson Marine (dba Ranger Yachts) threatened a suit against the small company in Washington in 1980.... over the use of the name.... and shortly found out that RFB was much older than they thought. A lot of those Ranger Minto dinghies adorned the transoms of large yachts in the Seattle area, and some of those yachts were owned by attorneys in high rises, who were friends with the founders of Ranger...
And after the California company's letter was answered by a return threat, suddenly they dropped the name "Ranger" for a year or two, and then used it again after paying an undisclosed sum to the older Washington company.

I just love a good "David vs Goliath" story! (At least when David has a good attorney.)


Fair winds,
LB

 

[PDX]

I thought they used the Alberg molds for the original Ericson 35

The story was that Pearson had discontinued making the Alberg designed 35 and took the molds to the dump, where Ericson, or the people who were to become Ericson, discovered and rescued them. Those molds were used to create the original Ericson 35.

Here is a link to that story that shows a picture of the original Ericson 35:

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1519

The boat in the flash screen labeled "Ericson/Alberg 30" is a completely different boat. I'm trying to figure out whether Ericson ever built an Alberg designed 30, or whether the boat pictured was not an Ericson at all. Maybe it was included by mistake as a conflation of the Alberg 35 story?

 

[Martin King]

The Ericson 30 was the first design from Bruce that was produced. There was no Alberg/30 that Ericson built. Ray Handy and others bought the molds for the Alberg 35 from an enterprising
dump operator in the Bay area. Bruce redesigned the deck and interior and that boat became the 35 Mk 1. It would be interesting to learn just how they heard about those molds which
were supposed to have been destroyed.

 

[PDX]

Thanks, Martin.

 

[Martin King]

You're welcome. Also revised the wikipedia history as it was full of errors and omissions.

Now that you mention it, that is an Alberg 30 on the splash screen. To the best of my
information, Ericson had nothing to do with that one.