Reply To: New Member/Iroquois Boats

Better late than never… I’m also a new member but was intrigued by your post. I have a 1971 iroquois mkII (purchased after full refit in north carolina, now moored in jensen beach, florida) and had not, until your post, realized that there was a 1990s re-make of the mkII (from Indiana of all places!).

I don’t know anything about carlson marine, or the laminate schedule of the boat they produced, but I can tell you this:

1. With an iroquois, lighter is better — the boat will not perform if it’s overloaded — the carlson boat seems to have a lot more deck (no net in front and extension in back), and the drawings show it caring fuel forward which I think it is a really bad idea if you plan on doing any serious sailing.

2. One of the things that made the iroquois so tough originally (other than the many layers of glass used to laminate it) was the way it was built with a steel beam through the center supporting an “a-frame” created by that beam and the rig on top of it – there is still no stiffer 30 ft cat out there… so you’ll want to check into how the new boat was built to really compare it with the older boats.

3. If you’re not into sailing and just want a live-aboard you might want something standing headroom in the main salon… it’s murder on the lower back being hunched over all the time.

I’m interested in the rudder design for the carlson boat — i have modified my rudders also, as I think the original rudders were a definite weak point on the original boat.

Good luck!