The E Scow is a recreational sailboat, originally built of wood and now predominantly of fiberglass sandwich construction, with wood trim. It has a fractionalsloop rig with either wooden or aluminum spars and running backstays. The forestay is attached well aft of the boat's bow. The hull is a scow design, with a vertical transom, a spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller and retractable dual centerboards (also called bilgeboards). It displaces 965 lb (438 kg).[1][2]
The boat has a draft of 3.75 ft (1.14 m) with a centerboard extended. With the centerboards retracted it may be beached or transported on a trailer.[1]
The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 73.2 and is normally raced with a crew of three to five sailors.[2][5]
Operational history
The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the National Class E Scow Association. By 1994 racing fleets were sailing in Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, New York and New Jersey.[6]
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "this is a very fast and sophisticated boat with a long history of development. Scows probably evolved from sharpies, and the first scows were in evidence around 1895. E Scows were born at a meeting of the Inland Lake Yachting Association in 1923. Wood has been used for many years, but since 1976 FRP has predominated."[2]