Ericson 32 Background

In 1967 Ericson produced 24 hulls modeled after the Columbia Sabre 5.5 meter and called them the Scorpion 32. These were Ericson's original 32' yachts, sometimes called the Ericson 32-I. I track hull and owner information about the Scorpion, but other owners have entire sites dedicated to this interesting craft, Greg McCauley in particular.

This site's focus is on the three later Ericson 32 models designed by Bruce King.

The Ericson 32 hull pictured in the opening screen of this website began production in 1969. This is the Ericson 32-II, and hull numbers 101 through 573 were built between 1969 and 1978.

The boat sported many interesting innovations--for example, an internally-ballasted lead (not iron) keel which is an integral part of the hull, and a T-shaped cockpit with a "bathtub" seating compartment aft in which non-sailors can sit, out of the way of the operation of the boat. This is the helmsman's seat for boats equipped with a wheel. With a spade rudder, deck-mounted mast and a double-spreader rig, in many ways she was years ahead of her time. Over the years the design was changed to

Production of a slightly beamier 32' line resumed in 1985 with hull number 601. Although it had the same basic hull shape and was still marketed as the "Ericson 32," it featured enough design changes to justify a new model line, the Ericson 32-III. It incorporates Ericson's "Tri-Axial Force Grid," a more traditional keel-stepped mast, and several choices of keel designs which included keel bolts. The updated "Ericson 32-200" was added to the product line in 1988 and was offered as an alternative to the standard 32, featuring a different interior layout with an aft cabin and midships head. This boat may also be called the Ericson 32-IV.

By today's standards, the 32 in any of her flavors is a nicely-appointed and soldily-built but reasonably nimble cruiser with handsome lines. When first produced, however, she was touted as a racer. According to records which came with my boat, the 32-II rated about 171 in SoCal PHRF as late as 1981 and, in my opinion, was fairly rated at 183 in a few main and jib series on Lake Erie in 1995. A J-24, by comparison, rated about 168, and we beat a sloppily-sailed one over the line.

I purchased Bluefin, hull #112 built in 1969, out of the Deauxville Marina in Marina del Rey, CA, in late 1991. I renamed her Muxie Duxer. One of the first 32s built, she is equipped with a tiller and the once-standard 30-horsepower Atomic 4 gas engine with a V-drive transmission, which makes most engine access very easy. I have yet to see another 32 with the V-drive, but I think it's an excellent setup. A boatyard manager named Jim at the South Bay Boatyard in Chula Vista, CA told me in 1992 that Ericson Yachts used a boat named Bluefin to demo and test race in Southern California in the early 1970's. I think that was my boat, which came equipped with a large set of hanked-on headsails, an old but still serviceable star-cut spinnaker, and a packet of yellowed SoCal PHRF data from a previous owner in Hermosa Beach.