| Erin A 36' Double-Ended Sloop By William Atkin |
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| A Sloop of Semi-Racing Type and Development From the Able Fishing Craft of the North Sea | |
| Your true North Sea fisherman is a beamy craft of generous displacement having a breadth of about one third its over all length. As many of you know I have tried my hand at producing replicas of the better types of these North Sea double enders, the excellent ones that were designed for the Scandinavian fisher folks by the late Colin Archer. The only fault any of this American fleet of Colin Archer boats have is excessive beam. To be sure beam provides a roomy cabin, and gives stiffness, and a broad deck. But beam also is a sure road to slowness against a short sea. The kind we have in Long Island Sound. Take one of these same boats to sea; then you have found her home. She'll coast down the big ones and behave like the little ship she is. Few of us ever have the time to really go to sea. And for such Erin will prove to be ideal, and for such she was designed. She is 36 feet in over all length, 30 feet 6 inches on the water line, 10 feet in breadth, and draws 5 feet 6 inches. Her freeboard forward is 4 feet 9 inches and aft she stands 2 feet 5 1/2 inches from the water. Freeboard at station 8 is 3 feet 2 inches. Erin is decked over from station 8 to the bow in the same manner as a raised deck cruiser. This provides excellent deck room, and good headroom in the cabin without building a high and wide deck house. There is a good deal to be said in favor of this arrangement. It certainly is strong from a structural standpoint and simple to build. | |
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| Erin carries 7,100 pounds of lead in her keel and will require another 1,500 pounds inside. The latter can be in the form of cement loaded with boiler punchings or lead in the bilge. Like all double enders of this type the rudder hangs on the outside of the stern post. After all while this does not appeal to many yachtsmen it has its advantages. First of these is the fact that there never can be a leaky rudder port -- simply because there is none to leak. Then by having the rudder outside it is possible to locate the propeller farther aft thus making it so much easier to unwrap any kind of gear that will sooner or later wind up on the propeller. And another thing, by keeping the propeller as far aft as possible the inclination of the propeller shaft can be reduced. In this design we have reached the ultimate in this respect; the shaft being parallel to the water line. A long tiller is used for steering, and there is nothing just like a tiller. Of course in a badly balanced sailing boat or motor boat, it would be hard work pulling ones arms out on a tiller. But you need not worry about the hard work this time. Erin will take care of herself given half a chance. She is enough like her fat sisters for me to be absolutely sure of her balance. | |
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| Below there is all kinds of room despite the narrow beam. The galley is beside the companionway and stretches for a length of 6 feet 7 inches; measure this off on your floor and you'll see that it is a long distance. There is a No. 122 Shipmate range which, when all is said and done, is the most serviceable kind of cooking stove, winter or summer. There is a dandy ice box. A 12 by 18 inch sink with feed pump and discharge pump, the latter being necessary because the sink is below the water line. The sink will be below the water line in nearly all deep draft cruising boats. Opposite the galley there is a 4 foot chart table having a large locker below into which to stow canned goods and supplies. There is a nest of shelves abaft the chart table, and book shelves above. Then we come to the main cabin with its two settees. Behind these are box berths, that is spring berths built into a shallow box 6 feet 2 inches long and 2 feet 2 inches wide. These are hinged at the bottom and thus fold up under the deck behind the settees. There also will be a lot of room behind the folded up berth and this space is shelved for the accommodation of blankets, etc. The least headroom under the companion slide carlins is 5 feet 9 inches. Of course under the skylight and slide there is the much demanded 6 feet. Despite the modest beam there is 2 feet 2 inches between the fronts of the settees, which is ample. The toilet room opens into a sizable place by simply opening its door and the door of the locker on the starboard side. Also by opening the toilet door the forward cabin is completely shut off from the rest of the ship. There is excellent headroom even under the deck between the mast and the forward hatch. Two built-in bunks with a small seat between them make the nicest sort of little cabin in the bows. Here it is always quiet and I think it is always necessary to have a place in any small boat where one can get away from the crew on watch and be undisturbed. | |
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| No need to put in a lot of power. She is a slim thing and will slip along easily. Don't try to urge her beyond seven miles an hour, that is enough for any small auxiliary. A 20 h.p. Kermath would make a nice power plant for Erin, or a four 30 Gray. You do not want high revolutions, rather a propeller with generous diameter and low pitch. There is room in the bung hole for an 18 inch diameter propeller. | |
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| Plans for Erin are $200 MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM SHIPS PLANS STORE https://store.mysticseaport.org/ships-plans/ shipsplanstore@mysticseaport.org
+1 (860) 572 5360 | |
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