Pearson to Irwin ?

[rebelreck]

I worked on a Poor Irwin that the Owner left lock up with no ventilation for 2 years!! What a mess, saved what I could. When I told the owner what needed to be done. He said forget it and walked away. What an asshat. Abandoned the boat to insurance. Yep, C-130s were cold, rattled, and loud as heck. But I loved them. Too many Memories in that Big old Bird.
I would stick with Pearson too. Good boats.

[SkiprJohn]

C-130s were good for short hops and very dependable. Never had a force layover in one but have had in 141s and C-5s.
I once flew in a C-130 from the Philippines to Japan. Too long a trip in my opinion but I knew it'd make it eventually.

[skipmac]

As is obvious from comments, there is a wide variety of Irwins, and Pearsons too for that matter. Friend used to win the weekend club races regularly in an Irwin, but the big, center cockpit cruisers are a different story. Pearson also made some go fast boats and cruisers. Generally a Pearson cruising design will sail better than an Irwin cruiser. Generally the Pearsons are a more solid boat than an Irwin but again, you should look at the individual boat.

[lesterbutch]

Just to get my two bits in, I presently own a 72Pearson 35 and sailed a 37 Irwin ketch for 20 years all over the east coast, Florida and the Bahama's. I also had in seas of 15 feet plus and it handled them well. I sold it because it was getting old! It was a 73. The Irwin was a good boat but it did'nt point well. It was super roomy compared to the Pearson but not even in the same league when it comes to construction. I find them both to be good boats BUT I am restoring the Pearson and have never sailed it. I think it should be a great sailor, Time will tell.
Capt. Butch

[lifeofreilly57]

OK, my two cents worth, which ain't much.
Some Irwin's sailed well, not the CC tubs though, they were built with interior volume in mind, they weren't bad sailing, they just didn't sail as well as a comparable Pearson, of course the similar sized Pearson didn't have quite as much interior volume. Either would handle what was thrown at them, they just did it in a different way, depends on what your looking for.
As for build quality there is no comparison, Pearson was always known for the quality of their boats, compared to the boats in their segment of the market they always had a good reputation. Irwin's not quite as good in build quality and that varied from year to year and model to model, depends on which one and what period it was built in, Pearson's were more consistent.
Depends on what you need and how much work it needs.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57

OK, my two cents worth, which ain't much.
Some Irwin's sailed well, not the CC tubs though, they were built with interior volume in mind, they weren't bad sailing, they just didn't sail as well as a comparable Pearson, of course the similar sized Pearson didn't have quite as much interior volume. Either would handle what was thrown at them, they just did it in a different way, depends on what your looking for.
As for build quality there is no comparison, Pearson was always known for the quality of their boats, compared to the boats in their segment of the market they always had a good reputation. Irwin's not quite as good in build quality and that varied from year to year and model to model, depends on which one and what period it was built in, Pearson's were more consistent.
Depends on what you need and how much work it needs.

An old sailing buddy told me when he was in high school his father had an Irwin that frequently won weekend yacht club races. Regarding build, I have to agree that the quality did vary a lot from year to year or model to model.

Most seemed to be reasonably well put together but a friend did a delivery on a fairly new Irwin that had major problems the whole trip, including the pedestal pulling out of the cockpit floor because it was attached only with self tapping screws.