Well, I couldn't stand it. Blue Duck came down so far in price, I just couldn't resist his 2004 Eclipse, so I drove down to Bakersfield and brought her home just in time for winter! So now I have a recently rehabbed SunCat AND an Eclipse that needs very little rehabbing ..... although I'll withhold judgment on the sails until after the first outing, which must be postponed until November due to travel plans. I feel right at home in the Eclipse, as I had a CP19, but this is a much upgraded boat, for sure. Too many good things. I expect I'll either sell the SunCat, or it will cross the country with me to the family home on the Chesapeake someday, and the Eclipse will stay here on Whidbey Island.
So, I'm glad to join this section of the forum.
Ferd Johns
Oak Harbor WA
Congrats and welcome Ferd. As a new eclipse owner too (this past June) I can say you will love the way it sails. This forum is also invaluable for all the questions answered and ideas thrown out by the great members and sailors who have come before you - before us. Enjoy and keep us posted.
Welcome Fred. I too am a relatively new Eclipse owner. I bought the boat (a 2007) in April so I have about 6 months with her. I have done a few things to her but she is pretty much a stock boat. The Eclipse is a great sailing boat and I know you will like her once you get some water under the keel. Enjoy and keep in touch. We new Eclipse owners have to stick together. LOL Especially since there are only about 70 of us nationwide. I have boat #49.
Hi Fred,
I"ll say welcome as well. I own hull #23, a bone stock 2005 Eclipse. Getting ready to move her closer to home in Punta Gorda, Fl. Relocating her from the Lake Geneva Yacht Club in Fontana, WI. 2 new trailer tire/galvanized wheel setups from etrailers.com arrived today. Ordered on Tuesday night and they shipped Wednesday, not bad for free shipping of 60ish pounds. They are located west of St. Louis, not far from Lake St. Louis, where I learned to sail as a 12 year old. The sunfish was a great boat to learn on. Very forgiving, especially when the water is 80+ degrees and the winds are 10-20 gusting to 40. You can really push the boat hard and if you flip over it is easy to recover or turtle and use as a swim platform. The boat doesn't care, it is bulletproof, as is the rig. The rig is as about as simple as you can get. No outhaul, downhaul, jib, jibsheets, etc. Just a main halyard and a mainsheet. Just like a simple airplane, it is literally stick (mainsheet) and rudder (tiller). The steering feel of a sunfish is amazing, as long has you have a correctly shaped and finished rudder. Where am I going with this?
The Eclipse of course! Much like a sunfish, the Eclipse is very simple for a boat its size. She is also very forgiving, heading up early when overpowered. Lake Geneva has very fluky winds. They are calmish in the morning and pick up in the afternoon sometimes up to 30kt gusts with clear blue skies. This can happen quickly depending on the amount of convection happening on the surrounding open fields. There is a lot of farmland around the lake and it is sometimes very black and absorbs a lot of heat from the sun. This sets up a pressure differential and the winds blow. The Eclipse becomes overpowered quickly even with the sails flattened. I've never reefed mine, I just take the jib in and see how it goes. When I see whitecaps and heavy chop, I just pack it in and motor back to the ramp. In it's element which is 7-15knots, the boat is superbly fun and comfortable, stable, easy to sail. Like any boat she is a handful in 20+ knots of gusty wind. I'm really enjoying mine and can't wait to get her on charlotte harbor. I've a few maintenance items to tend to after a long season, but I'm sure they aren't anything major. Sloppy rudder (bushings I think), motor tune up, I need a real PFD, bottom paint, maybe, Upgrades for harbor sailing: GPS, depth sounder, etc. The journey will updated on the other thread.
Have fun, and again, welcome. If you need Eclipse advise, this is the place.
Vectordirector
Got out of work at 3 pm today and Just got in from an afternoon sail with my son Kevin, who's 21. Another great sail on Helios in about 10-12 knots of se steady wind.. We put sails up about 50 yards from the dock and sailed out of Huntington harbor and into the bay. As often happens, people get close to comment on how beautiful the eclipse is. Today a Catalina 22 pulled alongside motoring while we sailed and asked where we dock so they could come by to take a look - their goal is to buy an eclipse in a year or two. We sailed for 2+ hours and talked about what's next (he just graduated college) and had a great bonding sail. While he was at the tiller I played with sail trim and walked up front and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Point is Ferd, as mentioned the other day, you will love the eclipse and hopefully it will give you many sails like ours today. She's well designed, well balanced and just plain fun! Enjoy.
Welcome Ferd!
The "Madame Z" is a 2006 Eclipse #42 and this is our 3rd season here in upstate NY. She is my first sailboat, first boat period for that matter, and she has been extremely accommodating to this nubie. It has been a pleasure learning the art of sailing under the tolerant guidance of the Madame. This years sailing has been slim due to work but it has included one epic sail for me. It was a single-handed, 6-1/2 hour sail in 18 to 28 winds for a total of 26 miles. Most of the time we were on a beam to broad reach with full sails and I got scarily comfortable at 30+ degrees. Twice, a gust of unknown proportion forced us to round-up which she handled with grace and composure. Me....not so much! :)
Ferd, Congrats and the best of luck to you with your Eclipse.
-Allen
Thanks, everybody, for the warm welcome. More later when I get back to Oak Harbor and get the boat wet.
Best,
Ferd