The Ericson 34 looks and sails like a big boat. Of course, with an LOA of 34 feet, 10 inches, it's pretty close to being 35 feet anyway. Bruce King has always designed graceful boats that just seem to look right in the water, and the 34 is one of his best efforts. Most who see her sailing or enjoy her high headroom and spacious interior layout swear she has to be a 38'. When assured she really is 34.10, have often heard she has more room than most boats up to 40.
The proportions are moderate, from the amount of sheer and freeboard to the ballast, displacement and sail area numbers. The masthead sloop rig supports just about 600 square feet of sail area and this can be powered up with a genoa. The 5 foot 4" wing keel helps the boat track well to weather and the balanced rudder provides excellent steering on deep reaches.
The Ericson 34 hull is solid fiberglass and taken from a single-piece mold. Ericson was justifiably proud of its "Tri-axial Force Grid," a molded structure of thwarts and stringers that give the hull rigidity and provides excellent support for the keel and rig loads. The sandwich deck has a balsa core with plywood backing under through-deck fittings for extra strength. The fiberglass hull and deck joint is less prone to leaking than through-bolts. The keel is externally fastened with beefy bolts. The rudder is foam over a steel frame with a thin fiberglass skin.
This boat is gorgeous and sails as good as she looks!
Mary was awesome. She was a great instructor and got us up to speed since it’s been a while since we sailed. She was nice enough to go pick up some gas for us too to save us time at the fuel dock. Highly recommend her, we may go back for lessons / certification.
Mary and Mark were great. They had great communication, prompt, and informative. Anthem was in good condition, and a pleasure to sail. Based on my experience, I recommend this rental