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Commodore’s Report

The Ensign Turns Sixty

By 1962, Everett Pearson was building several lines of
sailboats designed by Carl Alberg. Triton 28s, Alberg 35’s
and Ensigns were being built alongside each other, and all
to the same construction standards.

“We designed the hull laminate from the waterline down so that the boat, laid
over on its side with the entire weight of the boat resting on the keel and one
square inch of the hull would yield not more than 1/2 inch and produce no
structural damage to the boat.” - Everett Pearson, Pearson Yachts Portal

Clearly, Pearson knew and understood the strength of the materials with which
he worked, and this construction standard is the primary reason so many of the
Albergs, Tritons and Ensigns are still sailing today. These early Pearson
sailboats with their solid skin laminates may not accelerate with today’s
lightweight, sandwich-core-composite offerings, but their hulls are certainly
tougher and less vulnerable to the effects of widespread water intrusion.
Durability, good performance and timeless design are the trademarks of a sailing
heirloom, and in the world of displacement yachting, blazingly quick acceleration
is overrated if hull speed can be achieved reasonably quickly in a moderate
breeze. The sweet sailing, forgiving, stable Ensign, with its deep, open cockpit
and cuddy cabin, has lent itself admirably to an incredible variety of experiences
for over two generations. Ensigns are still used today for racing, sailing lessons,
taking newbies on a comfortable first-time sail, singlehanding, day sailing with
friends and family, romantic sailing in the moonlight, overnighting, towing gleeful
kids behind the boat, fleet cruising to distant destinations, dockside
conversations, anchoring in the lee of an island, wading ashore, exploring and
beachcombing, surfing downwind under spinnaker… Some of my closest and
longest friendships have formed while sailing Ensigns. The question is, with the
earliest Ensigns turning sixty this year, how much longer can we expect these
boats to continue to provide the sailing fun, adventure and excitement so many of
us have come to embrace through the years?

This question might best be answered by strength-testing hull samples from early
boats and comparing the results with identical tests made in the early 1960’s.
Tests of this nature on other hard-worked, fiberglass hulls of the era have
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revealed very little loss of strength over time . Further, there’s the remarkable
story of Mermaid, which sank and lay on the ocean bottom for almost two years,
then was salvaged, refurbished and today races very competitively at the top of
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the Shields 30 Class .

The evidence suggests that solid fiberglass hulls of the 50’s and 60’s are quite
durable. How durable depends upon initial construction and materials,
workmanship, use, as well as maintenance and preservation. The eight-week,
fresh-water sailing season of northern Michigan inflicts much less damage on a
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