Ericson 39 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The 39's hull is solid fiberglass, laminated in split molds and joined along the centerline, with a balsa-cored deck bonded to the hull on an inward flange. In high-load zones under the deck, Ericson substituted solid plywood for the balsa, and the plywood bulkheads were well-tabbed to the hull. Lead internal ballast sits low, and the swept-back fin keel carries a deep forefoot while the fullish aft sections form a three-quarter skeg. The rudder is foam over an iron grid with a thin glass skin, and period assessment noted the rudderstock could have been beefier stainless. The short 30-foot waterline, 9-foot overhangs, and pinched IOR counter stern give a long, clean entry; the 19,000-lb displacement and near-50-percent ballast ratio account for genuine stiffness, a figure the nearly 50 percent ballast ratio confirms as the source of her stiff posture.

Rig and Handling

A masthead rig with 739 square feet of sail and a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 16.62 placed the 39 squarely in the performance-cruiser camp for 1970, though that number reads as a cruiser today. The 39 was one of the first boats to use midboom sheeting on the mainsheet with the traveler forward of the companionway, while the 39B usually moves the traveler and sheet aft. Most boats carried Barlow or Barient winches that have aged well. On the helm, the wheel sits just behind the bridgedeck rather than over the rudder, and an emergency tillerhead farther aft shows the true stock position. The 39 tracks well to windward and shows a soft motion in a seaway, though both models are difficult to steer in reverse, and the narrow beam with pinched stern is less ideal off the wind.

Accommodations

Below, the flush-deck 39 makes its living with a mahogany-trimmed interior that can be refinished. The galley sits to starboard with two forward-facing sinks, a three-burner stove outboard, and an icebox aft; opposite are a settee berth and a quarterberth running under the aft-facing nav station. The saloon has facing settees around a centerline table, the head forward to port is not overly spacious, and a large hanging locker opposite serves the V-berth, which is generously sized with low bunks easy to crawl into. The 39B trades the flush deck for a raised cabintrunk with teak handholds, gaining headroom and an offset companionway that opens to an aft cabin instead of only a quarterberth, with increased bilge tankage and just one cockpit locker to show for it.

Known Issues

Flush decks with balsa coring demand a careful eye for deck delamination, a known vulnerability on these boats. The chainplates are secured to the main bulkhead, and because all chainplates leak eventually, a rotten bulkhead is a real risk if water has migrated. The huge forward hatch on the flush-deck model is not immune to leaks. Mechanically, early boats carried the Atomic 4 30-hp gasoline engine, later replaced by the Westerbeke 30; many have since repowered to diesel, but the unit is shoehorned behind the companionway steps so access is poor, and the original 20-gallon iron fuel tank should have been changed out by now.

Refits and Ownership

Owners shopping the 39 will weigh a flush-deck boat's sailing-efficient profile against the 39B's cruising-friendly aft cabin and headroom. Repowers, diesel conversions, tank replacements, and bulkhead or deck-core repairs are the defining ownership tasks. The molded cabin sole and plywood-reinforced deck speak to a build simplified for production, but the joinery and lead ballast reward careful upkeep.

The Verdict

The Ericson 39 is a King-designed racer-cruiser that aged into a capable performance cruiser, with a stiff, soft-riding hull and a practical if dated interior. The 39B remains a cult boat for those wanting an aft cabin without leaving the lineage.

Pros