Ecume de mer

There is a pretty navy blue one on the Exe called Sirene of Yealm that has been sailed round the UK shorthanded two summers ago. The owner has had her twenty years at least. Very smart fast boat and looks good.
 
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Nice pics, were they taken on one of the Scuttlebutt cruises last year?

Nice boat too.

Al.

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They most certainly were Al.

Actually, the Ecume did really well on the way out to Cumbrae in F6. But we did better in his brotheres M31. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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She looks like she's going really well in the first two pics - must have someone good on the helm. Pity about the in-mast reefing though . . .

- W
 
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- must have someone good on the helm.

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Nice steering - shame about the hat.

PS - You're not fooling anyone with the sail trimming tips Al. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Well I am not entirely unbiased, but the Ecume de Mer is a fine boat. Mine was built in 1972, and has many years left in her. Because of the broad beam she has a spacious saloon, with a dinette and linear galley. The two quarter berths are ideal sea berths.
She sails very well indeed and has taken us to Ireland a few times with no worries at all. In big seas she is dry and safe. In light winds mine suffers a llittle but that is mainly because my mainsail is slightly undersize. I forget what the original engine was, but most have been re-engined with a Yanmar 1GM10 like mine, or some rely on outboard power. There are lots of clever features in the interior design to maximise use of space. I will post a link tonight to a site which has lots more information on these excellent wee boats.
Nearly 1400 were built - some in Japan, so they must have something good going for them!
 
I had one once down in Falmouth. It was a super little boat. Pointed extremely high and won lots of races! Not really a cruiser, more a dinghy with a lid on, but having said that I visited the Isles of Scilly several times with her and was impressed by her seakeeping. As far as light air sailing is concerned she was superb so I think you need some new sails! The original engine was a Vire 10HP which was dreadful so don't buy one with the original engine unless you have a budget to replace it. If you want a boat capable of seeing off people in club racing go for it. If you want a solid family cruiser look elsewhere. Fantastic fun though and I remember mine fondly.
 
It's an early Group Finot quarter-tonner design. I spent a lot of time in the early 70s sitting on the rail and watching them go past us. V quick, v easy to handle, delightfully balanced and close winded. The interior layout is a little odd with the chart table against the forward bulkhead. The saloon is large but the forecabin small.

She has a smallish main and a large headsail in accordance with IOR requirements of the time. We tried to keep pace (on handicap) with them by getting a smaller main for our rather older design. In retrospect this was a mistake. We were no quicker upwind and rather slower down.

There were two versions of the Ecume, although the cruising version, with 4ft instead of 5ft draught, and a less tweekable rig, was not very popular. She has a beam of jusdt 7ft 8in which was not excessive, even in the early seventies, and quite narrow today.
 
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Not really a cruiser, more a dinghy with a lid on.

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I am not sure why you say this as mine is nothing like a dinghy with a lid on. She has good, nearly standing, headroom, OK I'm not tall, and is well fitted out. Perhaps you had one of the flush deck versions? As far as being a solid cruiser - well I have been out in her singlehanded and crewed in evil conditions without any moments of doubt. For those of you who remember the Yachting World One Of a Kind Rallies, she was joint winner in the early 70s - joint with a Trapper 500.
This page tells a little more:
http://www.finot.com/general/index_ang.htm
A link at the top of this site will take you to some reviews - one of which is very complimentary in English, and a link at the bottom of that page will take you to an owners site.
 
Great boat, sails well, sensible prices now and i tried to buy one back in 2003 but we couldn't come to terms- shame it would have given me just what I wanted reasonable accommodation and good club racing and ideal boat for one adult and a couple of young inexperienced teenagers to cut their teeth on
 
I was not trying to be derogatory. It does handle more like a big dinghy than a cruiser and frankly headroom is very limited. What I meant was that it is at the other end of the spectrum to say the old Westerly which at the same OAL has much more comfort and room. The performance difference is very marked though. The Ecume will outsail the Westerly hands down. If I had to be out in a gale however I would choose the Westerly. Horses for courses. The Ecume would be much more fun to sail in anything up to moderate conditions, but it is a daysailer rather than an all-weather cruiser with limited accommodation.
 
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