Well it's not a book. My wife keeps our friends up on our a adventures on a blog site. We have been out sailing for the last 10 yrs. There are several links that are fun to look at (of course I am prejudice) but that is why she is the communications officer. Enjoy looking at it and E-mail us if you like it. It's her job.
SID and MANUELA in and on "PARADISE"
E36c Hull#51
http://boatbumms.blogspot.com
ps: or just Google boatbumms
The stories of these trips are interesting, but keep in mind that Webb and Andrew were both on the fringe in terms of mainstream (for the time) thinking as to how to prepare and equip a boat for such a voyage-these were both extreme individualists who did things most experienced offshore sailors would never have done-much of which played significant roles in the problems they encountered. And while I did like much of what Andrew did with the customized 30+ we built for him, they were more adventurers than seasoned offshore sailors-at least at the beginning of these trips.
Consider that Webb later tried the same voyage in a 21' open Drascombe-I think that says it all....
I don't think there was anything specifically wrong with the 37 for such a voyage-it was the way the boat was set up, prepared (or not prepared), and most of all, sailed. I would not hesitate to take one on a voyage like this if was thoroughly and properly surveyed.
True-the 37 and 39 have had some structural issues which must be checked before embarking on a voyage like this-but this was more of a matter of a few hulls leaving the factory as "lemons"-rather than a real design flaw-IMHO.
Allrighty, then,
S
Probably-Gene Kohlman hired me as the customer service/warranty administrator at the factory from about late 79/early 80 until late 1982. I came aboard when the 36 RH was being conceived, and ran the factory race boat programs for the 36 and 33 RH models, working with RH on final details and rating optimization. Sailed the prototype 36 and 33 in Socal events for the factory. I was responsible for all custom deck hardware selection and layouts on all models.
I left in 82 to open the first Ulmer Sails loft in Newport beach with Grant Wooden (we later became UK Sails when John Kolius became a partner with Butch Ulmer in the parent company). I kept a close relationship with the factory for the next 4-5 years and supplied the OEM sails for the factory and many local Ericson dealers during that time. Sold the loft in 87 and left the biz until moving to Chicago in 2000-and worked for Quantum, then Doyle until leaving sailmaking for good in early 2004.
When were you there? Those were fun times to be in the business!
S