ABOUT CHEEKY & HER CREW
The story behind
Cheeky Encounter
Cheeky Encounter, an Ericson 46 was built in California in 1974 in the early days of fibreglass boat construction.
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I like this era of fibreglass boat building because the industry was very cautious and still unsure about how fibreglass would handle the rigours of the ocean over time - So they built the hulls very thick, almost double the thickness of today's production boats. Weight was not a big issue, because in comparison to the wooden boats of the previous era fibreglass was still a fairly light material.
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You will notice lots of differences in the boat from the photos you see on this site. For one, she has recently (June 2021) had a repaint and her hull colour has been changed from Claret to Flagship Blue. She has also had most of her important systems upgraded since 2017.
Cheeky's particulars
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Built in 1974 in California
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Bermudan Mast-head Sloop with removable inner forestay
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Length Over All: 46ft (14m)
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Waterline length: 35ft (10.67m)
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Encapsululated Fin Keel with skeg-hung rudder
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Draft: 7.2ft (2.2m)
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Beam: 13.25ft (4m)
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Displacement: 39,600lb (18,000 kg)
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Designer: Bruce King
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Sail wardrobe: Mainsail 2021, Yankee 2020, Assym 2020, Staysail 2009, Storm Jib 2021
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Sleeps up to 7 in 2 cabins and 3 sea berths
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Volvo Turbo 75hp auxiliary power
Cheeky Encounter's Crew
Captain Andy is an unlikely skipper. He's only really been sailing since 2014 and mostly single handed across the Bass Strait, a notorious stretch of water between the Australian mainland and Tasmania.
Crew will vary from time to time depending on where we are going. The picture below is of the crew (a few good mates with me -left) . We sailed her from Sydney to Melbourne in October 2017.
