This has been an interesting thread as I recently had this conversation with friends in Vancouver. They mentioned to me that they were interested in a M26 and wanted my opinion on the matter. I explained to them that its a boat that has a very specific niche and its limitations need to be understood and respected. I told them if they want to trailer it to nearby lakes for a weekend or quick decision day sail it would be an ok choice. I also cautioned them about ever taking it offshore. I said that its really a boat that doesn't know what it wants to be and as a result it does neither task well and in inexperienced hands in the wrong conditions they can be very dangerous. That statement is true of any boat but I feel the older C&Cs will likely be more forgiving when a novice gets into weather that's over their heads.
I followed up with some examples of older boats that may be a little less convenient to set up quickly but when the wind starts blowing over 35 knots I'd sooner be in ANY sized overbuilt C&C, Grampion, CS, O'day or Tanzer than have to rely on a 60 hp engine to get me back to safety. The art of sailing by itself drives good seamanship and self sufficiency. M26s do not encourage this. As for the argument on pretty, well it's my own opinion that the older M26's prior to becoming bastardized motor boats were actually somewhat pretty. They definitely mangled the lines to make it work with large outboard. Build quality, I have no opinion on that but the rig certainly looks wimpy compared to the telephone poles that stick up from our decks. Even my old Bruce Kirby designed DS22 had a more robust rig and might I add was a very pretty boat. Brent Driedger C&C 27V Lake Winnipeg Sent from my iPod On 2013-01-05, at 10:34 PM, Chuck S <cscheaf...@comcast.net> wrote: > One man's opinion of beauty can vary widely from anothers. > > Olin Stephens drew nice lines early on. Dorade, Bolero, etc. Later he made > a statement something like, "A pretty boat is a fast boat." I take that to > mean that his customer's values had shifted so that "fast" was more important > than style. Hence, we now have boats with plumb bows with retractable > sprits. Destroyer bows common to C&Cs have a wonderful and practical reserve > buoyancy, that requires flared topsides, which help make the boat drier, but > have shorter waterlines; resulting in less speed for overall length. > > Dennis Conner is a well respected sailor, but also wrote something like the > following in "Comeback", one of his books; "I don't have any affection for a > boat. I don't romanticize it or pat it fondly. I take it sailing and drive > it hard and possibly break something. The best boat is simply a fast > machine, that's all." > > I don't think MacGregors are ugly. They serve a different purpose than C&C. > And there are uglier boats out there. But I do wonder how many seasons they > are kept operating, because the few I see around here are active for a > season, and then put up for sale and sit for years on their trailers. > > Chuck > Resolute > 1990 C&C 34R > Atlantic City, NJ > From: "Russ & Melody" <russ...@telus.net> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Sent: Saturday, January 5, 2013 8:50:05 PM > Subject: Re: Stus-List Two more boat reviews on the horizon > > Hi Dwight, > > This quote is from a 1983 article . I thought the original came from > Herreshoff but I couldn't find it. > As Bruce Kirby, designer of Canada 1 says, "there is no excuse for an ugly > boat". > It nicely sums my opinion of the Mac 26 and in hindsight I should have > suggested the GOB review belonged in a different magazine, such as Trailer > Sailor. And not contained in something as respectful as Good Old Boat. > > Sadly, there are so many boats out there that I call "boat show boats" > because they seem to be built to a poll on what buyers want in a boat... all > the features, not large and low cost. To satisfy, this necessitates high > freeboard, ugly sheers, no practical stowage and cheap builds. They look okay > to a niaeve buyer at the boat show. > > <insert sound of writer stepping off soapbox> > Cheers, Russ > Sweet 35 mk-1, with a pretty sheerline > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com
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