Ranger 12'

May 13, 2023
7
Ranger R12 Jordanelle Reservoir
Hi everyone, I'm talking to someone about purchasing a Ranger 12 and it looks pretty good but he's mentioned a water ballast under both benches and that it can help with stability but is something you want to empty out for towing or rowing.

I've seen that there is almost no information about the R12 out there, but does someone have direct experience with this feature on this boat, how it works, and if there are issues I should consider?

He mentioned there is currently water you can hear sloshing under the seats, so I need to know how it works. On an older boat I'm also worried about cracks and how to maintain these tanks if one of them needs repair.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!
 
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Apr 8, 2010
1,955
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Hi everyone, I'm talking to someone about purchasing a Ranger 12 and it looks pretty good but he's mentioned a water ballast under both benches and that it can help with stability but is something you want to empty out for towing or rowing.

I've seen that there is almost no information about the R12 out there, but does someone have direct experience with this feature on this boat, how it works, and if there are issues I should consider?

He mentioned there is currently water you can hear sloshing under the seats, so I need to know how it works. On an older boat I'm also worried about cracks and how to maintain these tanks if one of them needs repair.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Those are floatation "tanks" and if there is water in them it needs to be drained. Maybe the boat sat out in the weather a while and there was a crack in the seam where there are laminated to the hull.
There is NO water ballast as designed. Period.
There is a galvanized steel contemplate, tho.
The Ranger hull was originally "splash molded" from an actual English sailing dinghy brought over by a commercial airline pilot as 'cargo' in his large airliner, for his own pleasure.... kind of a humorous story among the sailing folk in Seattle. Or so went the tale.

(I was a dealer for Ranger, a lot of decades ago. Small company molding out sailboats among other products from what was then that newfangled fiberglass material, founded by three bomber crew guys from WW2.)
Like the other sailboats from that company, those were all hand layup, and quite well built.
 
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May 13, 2023
7
Ranger R12 Jordanelle Reservoir
Hi, I just picked up and R12 and am getting it cleaned up to sail Thursday evening!

Two questions:
  • Is it ok to walk inside an R12 while it is on a trailer? Or does the hull have to be supported by water to stand in it?
  • Is there a reference for what thickness the different lines should be on an R12 with aluminum mast and boom (exactly like the drawing posted here)? Or can people share what has worked well for them? I saw both jib and main halyards should be 1/4" but I'm wondering too about other lines like downhaul, outhaul, jib and main sheets, boom vang, and centerboard. I've noticed a lot of the lines don't really fit in the their blocks or cleats, so definitely wrong sizes.
Thanks!
 
Apr 8, 2010
1,955
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Hi, I just picked up and R12 and am getting it cleaned up to sail Thursday evening!

Two questions:
  • Is it ok to walk inside an R12 while it is on a trailer? Or does the hull have to be supported by water to stand in it?
  • Is there a reference for what thickness the different lines should be on an R12 with aluminum mast and boom (exactly like the drawing posted here)? Or can people share what has worked well for them? I saw both jib and main halyards should be 1/4" but I'm wondering too about other lines like downhaul, outhaul, jib and main sheets, boom vang, and centerboard. I've noticed a lot of the lines don't really fit in the their blocks or cleats, so definitely wrong sizes.
Thanks!
Walking inside while on the trailer should not harm the hull. I would hazard a SWAG that on a boat that size 3/16 or even 1/4 would do of all of the smaller control lines.
 
Feb 10, 2021
9
Ranger 11 Vancouver
I've got the Ranger 11, All my lines except the outhaul appear to be 5/16 and that seems to fit all the blocks and cleats. When I went to replace the mainsheet 1/4 seemed like it would work but I thought the 5/16 would be more comfortable and it fits just fine.
 
May 13, 2023
7
Ranger R12 Jordanelle Reservoir
I've got the Ranger 11, All my lines except the outhaul appear to be 5/16 and that seems to fit all the blocks and cleats. When I went to replace the mainsheet 1/4 seemed like it would work but I thought the 5/16 would be more comfortable and it fits just fine.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. The larger lines for sheets work great. The most irritating one honestly is just the line for pulling up the centerboard. It doesn't really fit in the v jam cleat.

Also I finally got mine in the water yesterday and it sailed great! Really nothing that needs immediate updating, ready to go for the summer.
 
Apr 27, 2024
1
Ranger R-11 Lake Sammamish
I recently purchased an R-11 that appears to be in pretty decent shape. The shake-down sail went pretty well, except for a split tiller. But the boat moves very well under sail and while rowing.

One question, I don't really know how the main sheet is supposed to be rigged. There's a traveler line that crosses the stern. After passing from the boom, through the traveler, and then back through two small blocks on the boom, should I just hold the main sheet in hand, or tie it off, or am I missing some hardware? Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas are very much welcomed.
 

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Apr 8, 2010
1,955
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Note that the dagger board has two separate "down" positions, so that you can balance the CE sail area with only the main up if you want to sail that way.
Ray Richards, N.A.M.E., was a great designer. (IMHO)
Note also the "family resemblance" to his Ranger 20 and 24 hull designs.

That "slotted teak gunwale was a factory option, BTW. ($)