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BILL SHAW ANSWERS THE MAIL
The Pearson Current - Volume 2, #3 - 1995
Due to the increasing number of letters we receive, we aren't able to print them all. We will try to "catch up" with some in upcoming issues, but we can't guarantee we will have space then either. In addition, many questions just aren’t answerable or have been answered in previous issues. We will attempt to fit parts of your letters in the "Member Notes, Inquiries and Tips" section so that other members can speak to each other directly.
We thoroughly enjoyed the rendezvous in Newport this summer. It was great to meet other owners and exchange ideas as well as be able to discuss concerns with Bill Shaw. We subsequently used Frank Davis’s mooring in Newberryport and hooked up with the Osborne’s in Rockland for a visit. We also became more sensitive to other Pearson owners we encountered on our cruise and exchanged names and addresses. We encouraged them to join the association. Keep up the good work.
We have additional questions relative to our 1984 Pearson 36' sloop-rigged sailboat which we hope you or other owners can answer.
When I pulled the boat this fall, I noticed the fiberglass had come loose from the port side center board pivot plate. The screws which held it on were loose. I tightened them and plan to re-glass over the plate. Why would this occur? What should I do to prevent reoccurrence? What are the construction details of the pivot assembly? Our mast pumps a lot in 20-25 kt winds. How do I stop that action? How can I drain the diesel fuel tank? The boom clevis pin which secures it to the mast keeps working out by distorting the cotter pin and dragging it into the clevis pin hole. It would appear that the cotter pin hole won’t take an adequate size pin. It always works out not in? Why?
My FWC Yanmar does not have a cooling expansion tank in the fresh water/antifreeze side. I find myself constantly refilling it! Why was that not installed on the boat as built? I need to replace some rubber gasket material under the stanchions and swim ladder support. Where can I find white gasket material? This year, one of my swim ladder supports, where attached to the stern, started rusting badly and stained the stern of the boat. Why?
— Don and Liz Bunch, Poughkeepsie, NY
Dear Don & Liz,
I’m not sure why the glass came off or screws became loose but water might have got in behind the glass, causing it to come off. When replacing the screws, they should be set in bedding compount to prevent them from vibrating loose. To the best of my recall, the assembly looks like this:
As for the mast pumping problem — does it pump while sailing or when at anchor at a slip? If underway in a sea, the lower shrouds may need tightening. If moored, use a spinnaker pole lift lead to stem head fitting to pre-bend mast forward.
About the fuel tank — the only way to drain it is to pump out through the deck fill or rig up a pump from the fuel supply line to the engine.
For the cotter pin — put a SS washer between the cotter pin and gooseneck. The hole in the washer should be a close fit to the clevis pin disc.
Contact Mack Boring in New Jersey as they supplied the engines to Pearson. With a FWC system there has to be an expansion tank somewhere.
D&R may be able to help you find a gasket. Some owners have cut an old tire tube to size.
A swim ladder support will rust if it develops a small crack or if the fastening is of a different alloy or if there is a gap between the fastening and the part (called crevis corrosion). Clean it up, wax it and the rusting should stop.
I would like to know what you mean by "full access to our technical support team" and if it includes Bill Shaw, the designer of my 1983 Pearson 34.
Specifically, I would like to know if it was designed strong and safe enough to withstand off-shore sailing with minimal modifications. I have compared it favorably by sight with the Pearson 36 which has cruised off-shore extensively. I need to know about stability, righting angles, hull and bulkhead strength, etc. I know about the weak rudder since mine failed during coastal cruising. I also would like to communicate with others who have taken the Pearson 34 off-shore and what these people did to make the boat seaworthy.
Finally, I am glad to be part of the NYPOA as I have enjoyed my Pearson so much. I would like to know if there are any plans to make communication between members easier such as 800 numbers, E-Mail, BBS, or chat groups on the Internet. I can help with these communication services.
— Bruce H. Peel, Chelsea, MA
Dear Bruce,
We have covered the off-shore question several times in past issues, but needless to say, the smaller the boat, the more potential danger is involved. About range of stability and other statistics, US Sailing may have the P34 in their IMS listing. Their new address is: U.S. Sailing Association, PO Box 1260, 15 Maritime Drive, Portsmouth, RI 02871-6015, (401) 683-0800, fax: (401) 683-0840.
As for easier communication — you’re right, we plan to offer some on-line services in 1996 (we’re now working on what kind we should offer) and would appreciate any help our members can give us. In the meanwhile, keep that "snail mail" coming!
Being a relatively new owner of a ’79 Pearson 40, I would greatly appreciate it if you would pose a few questions to Bill Shaw regarding this boat. Since Bob Bavier indicated in the November 1979 issue of Yachting that Shaw was the designer of this Pearson-built boat, I assume he will be familiar with it.
As a performance-oriented, cruiser/racer my assessment is that Shaw was right on target with this design. In fact, it is one of the most comfortable, best-handling boats that I have been on in over 30 years of sailing. Because of this, my first question to Shaw is, "Why the short run for this design?" Information available to me indicates that this boat was only produced in 1979 and 1980, and that there were only about 80 of them built. Correct?
Being a centerboard design, would you recommend any changes/improvements in this feature? Having read a number of accounts of centerboards falling out of their well, should the center-board pivot pin (whatever it was made of) be replaced (perhaps with monel)? Also, what is the easiest way to access/replace the center-board pennant and/or the centerboard pin? The manual that came with the boat doesn’t even mention the centerboard.
What was the planned use of the "staysail"? Was it planned for use in light air, or was it intended for use in cruising so as to give the boat a double-headsail, cutter configuration? If not intended for the latter, any suggestions on how this might be arranged as an option?
Any suggestion regarding extended, offshore use of this boat? Its low bow and flush-deck led me to think it might be very wet, and not perform well in heavy seas. However, my limited experience with it thus far leads me to think this may not be the case. Any comments from other owners of this boat?
Charles E. Bland, Greenville, NC
Dear Charles,
The production of 80 boats was not considered a short run for this size and price. The smaller the boat, the higher the numbers.
As for the centerboard, the design was not modified from the original. I believe the CB pin is accessed from the outside and has a fitting similar to the P36 (see the drawing on page 2). With the boat in slings, sight up the slot to locate the F&A position of the pin, then mark the keel vertically. By tapping the keel, you should be able to locate the fitting. To inspect the pennant, lower the board until the attachment point is visible. The pennant should be inspected annually and the pin should be inspected every two to three years. Monel is excellent for the pin. However, we have found that a good quality prop shaft works well.
We would need to know your specific configuration to fully answer your staysail question because there were a few different options offered over the years. About your off-shore query, as we have mentioned before, the P40 was an excellent off-shore boat but does need some upgrading for such use.
My wife and I have a 1988 Pearson 31 named "Blue Skies" docked at Annapolis City Marina in Annapolis, Maryland. One question I’ve got about the boat concerns the safety of leaving the boat in the water over the winter. Our surveyor recommended putting seacocks on the thru hull fittings for the cockpit and deck drains. They empty to thru hulls at the waterline under the stern. The yard manager meditated on this and said it would be a difficult job to fit seacocks in the limited space and that if he did, he would replace the plastic thru hulls with bronze and add bronze seacocks. And, besides, there was no reason to add seacocks because we would never want to close them because we would never want prevent the cockpit or deck from draining.
Of greater concern was his opinion about leaving the boat in the water in the winter. He said, if water froze in the hoses between the drains and the thru hulls, and if there were sufficient ice in the cockpit to lower the stern by an inch or two to put the thru hulls under water, the boat could sink if the hoses failed due to the ice. Then we talked about moving the thru hulls somewhere up on the transom but agreed this would be a big job.
This is my second year with the boat and we hauled her last winter. My plan was to haul every other year and to leave her in the water this winter. But this issue puts my plan in doubt. We love the boat and find it hard to believe that Pearson designed the boat never to be left in the water in moderate icing locations like the Chesapeake, let along New England. Any help you can locate for me would be greatly appreciated. In particular, I wonder what was Bill Shaw’s thinking on these issues when he located the thru hull fittings on the 31'. I look forward to membership in the Association.
Doug Crain, Springfield, VA
Dear Doug,
Pearson never considered the option of leaving a boat in the water where icing conditions could take place. That would have been poor judgment on our part. If there is any chance of freezing, the boat should be hauled. We have seen boats with seacocks in the water where the drains iced up, flooding the cockpit, the sail lockers and into the interior. The bottom line is, seacock or no seacock — if freezing up is a possibility — haul.
I have a 1985 Pearson 27 Shoal Draft. I bought this in Rhode Island where it was sitting in a yard having been damaged in Hurricane Bob which moved through Cape Cod some years ago. We use her mainly for daysailing and around the buoys racing in club and regional regattas. We have had some success in handicap racing with her and are continually looking for ways to ‘get an edge.’
My question is, what do you think the performance difference between the shoal draft keel and what I presume was also sold as a full fin keel version? We find when racing that the optimal wind range is 8-18 knots, below that her sail area to displacement ratio is low, and above that the limitations of the shoal draft keel become more apparent. I am assuming that a deeper keel would allow less weight and better upwind ability especially in the stronger wind range. Part two of the question is: If you feel the performance difference is significant, does anyone know of a ‘junked’ keel and what is involved in changing keels?
Thanks for any information or words of wisdom you can provide!
Colin G. Mann, Lunenburg, NS
Dear Colin,
We tested wing (shoal) versus deep keels on P31s & P33s and found that off the wind, there was no difference in performance. Up-wind, the deep keel made less leeway and had a higher straight line boat speed. This is also true for P27s. By the way, in light air, sail area/ wetted surface dictates performance not sail area/displacement which is a measure of heavy air performance. I have no experience with "junked" keels, but to improve light air performance with a shoal keel, consider adding to your sail inventory. A bigger jib and for heavier air, reef the main, de-power the jib by moving the jib sheet further aft which lets the top of the jib fall off. Install an inclinometer and redline the angle of keel to about 22-24 degrees.
I have a 1976 Pearson 10M, and I feel she could point better if I installed an inboard genoa track. Can you suggest length, placement position, angle from centerline, etc.?
Also, I’ve been told that the 3/8" wire rope on the forestay and backstay is excessive. When Hild Sails installed my Furlex jib furler, they replaced the 3/8" forestay with the next smaller size, (5/16", I think). Do you think this will become a problem and, if so, under what circumstances? If you don’t think it’s a problem, can I down-size the backstay to 5/16"? (It might save me a few bucks when I add a backstay adjuster.)
Bruce S. Ginsberg, New York, NY
Dear Bruce,
The inboard track will improve pointing only in less than 8 knots of wind or more than about 20 knots, depending on conditions. To secure the proper angle for the track, it would have to lay alongside the cabin trunk and be backed securely with a backing plate from inside the cabin.
For her size, the 10 meter is a very powerful boat. When designing headstays and backstays, we would often go up one size when calculations indicated a load near the limit of a smaller wire. This was done to reduce stretch, thus reducing the amount of sag in the headstay. Not having the calculations, I am unable to pass judgment on this change. I would suggest leaving the backstay as is, again, to minimize stretch.
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