Ohlson yawls

[pumadreas]

Looking for info on this design
weaknesses, experience - anything really!

thanks
andreas

[Todd Schliemann]

Andreas,

Ohlson's are fine boats, production boats though. They are the ubiquitous compromise boats which have succeeded well because of good design, a relatively inexpensive first cost, good traditional layout below, nice lines, and they are quite fast for the type. While not heavily built they were built with an eye toward efficient use of scantlings, good materials and craftmenship throughout. Many have edge glued hulls which, although curious, need different attention than traditional carvel construction. Perhaps because of their numbers there are some very sad cases which seem to be the norm. However there are others which have been taken care of well and survive with distinction.

Contact Jim Payne at Cannell Payne & Page, his Ohlson KRISTIN has burned up the wooden boat circuit for more years than I can count. He will will be your best source. They have web site. Try:http://www.by-the-sea.com/cannellpayne&page/
Good luck

[pumadreas]

Thanks!
There seems to be quite a lot of them, and as you say, some in a rather sad state.
When you say "not heavily built", does this mean that they were not built for offshore sailing? (I will need to bring the boat to the UK where I live...)

Andreas

[Todd Schliemann]

They are very stiff, strong and light compared to other older designs. Forgive me, perhaps I should have said that they are not stoutly built in the traditional way. They were engineered and constructed to be strong and nominaly light. By modern standards they would be considered mildly heavy now. As I recall there were different construction techniques used for different boats. Some heavier than others. Some boats were edge glued, others traditional carvel. It depends on the boat.

[pumadreas]

Ok, thanks for your help! I will have a look around.

Andreas

I had a wonderful Ohlson 36 yawl that, like every other boat I've had, I seriously regret selling. They tend to crack frames, though, especially in the turn of the bilge. The edge glue construction was great, tight and easy to maintain. I'd recommend the boat.

[Todd Schliemann]

Those cracked frames are part of the legacy of edge gluing. Most, but not all, Ohlsons used this techinique.
Overall expansion of the hull membrane as it swells rips the frames apart. Outward turns of the hull are vulnerable because of the outward stresses which pull the frames, not only lengthwise, but outward across the grain. Continued yearly wet/dry cycles compound the problem by compressing the fibers to failure in the planking adjacent to the glue line. If you are thinking of having a boat like this dry out each year on the hard, take care to see that it is in a moist environment. Overly dry conditions on the hard are death to this type.

However, the well maintained edge glued hull seems to provide structurally sufficient stiffness to allow one to ignore, as long as they dare (and I have known some to ignore them completely without sinking), the lack of frame strength. The norm is to find sistered or many new frames in the survivors. My boat is edge glued (not an Ohlson) and came to the states transatlantic with a boatload of cracked frames. Most have been replaced at this point and this past year did a scarf repair on 3 of the last bad ones.

It is very true that the edge glued hull, when taken care of properly, is a magnificently fair hull, akin to cold moulding. Almost looks like "glass" to some. This fairness adds to the ease of maintentainace and makes them quite fast for the type.

Also this vintage of Swedish built boats used a very high grade of plywood in many places. Very high grade custom laminations also, which employed resorcinols. Some of the best plywood and resorcinol glued joints you will see, generally. Laminated transoms, coamings, bulkheads, overhead deck beams, deck stepped mast transfer beams, and hull framing. The only down side here is in refinishing bright, which most of these boats were, inside and out. You can't go too deep too often or that glue just doesn't look as good as the african mahogany that it holds together.

Beautiful boats, well made, for many. Even the worst seem to want to float. A tribute to the builders, inspite of all.

[Ed Harrow]

Limited exposure to them, but I did look at one, and can make one small addition to the information above.

The one I looked at featured a "teak deck" fastened to plywood. Masonite was used between the ply and the deck beams to give a nice, finished look. Moisture had gotten into this sandwich with disastrous consequences.

[Todd Schliemann]

Odd and out of character but there were many built to different specs. Have seen some that used minimum thickness ply as minor structural interior brackets but nothing like masonite. You got a year marker on that boat so we all can avoid it?

[Ed Harrow]

Sorry Todd, I don't have any info, pictures, etc. She's 35', yawl rig, looks similar to others of probably sixties vintage. A lot of work was done on this boat, and perhaps the masonite was the work of someone else.

Having said that, the general level of workmanship on the boat was very good. New planks, frames, etc and all looked "finest kind". I think we've passed notes on this boat, maybe a year ago or so.