New Boat: C&C 30
Grand prix-style, one design racing for all!
Ultimately, modern sailboats are the stuff of dreams, waterborne works of art that serve to transport (figuratively as well as literally) and delight—and it would be hard to find a better or more exciting dream than the C&C 30.
Constructed in cored, infused vinylester and E-glass, with carbon in frames and other structural members, the boat is tremendously stiff and light, but without the price tag of an all-carbon hull. The bowsprit is essentially fixed so that it can incorporate a bobstay—a necessity for Code 0s and their substantial luff loads. However, it can be easily shipped underway and stowed on deck. It’s not the kind of thing you’ll do in a buoy race, but certainly makes for easier trailering. Along these same lines, the keel can be quickly and easily retracted in its housing with the help of a spectra lifting strop.
A product of the drawing board of veteran naval architect Mark Mills, the C&C 30 is being billed as a mini TP52, and it feels like just that—from the wide open, crew-friendly cockpit to the offset companionway to port and the single offset battery of clutches to starboard for controlling halyards and other sail controls.
Chines serve to provide some extra form stability as the boat heels. According to builder Barry Carroll, the boat sails best at an angle of around 20 degrees, because it reduces the wetted surface aft. Basically, the boat heels until its 7ft 6in keel gets canted out a bit and the chine has a chance to submerge, at which point it just kind of digs in and goes. Thanks to an impressive 1,579lb of lead in the bulb (the keel fin itself is carbon, talk about lowering your CG!) the boat is anything but tender.
Under sail in 10-14 knots of breeze on Narragansett Bay, the C&C 30 was nothing less than spectacular as we regularly hit 11-plus knots downwind under an A-sail. Although I was a little concerned about the rudder ventilating while sailing to windward, the boat never once felt in the least bit ready to spin out of control—even when I steered a bit low on purpose and we kept the main strapped in to see how the boat fared under some additional heel. The helm loaded up, but it never took more than maybe 10 degrees of rudder to keep the boat tracking.
Otherwise, steering was a piece of cake, especially when sailing to windward, with very little movement required: just let the boat drift up and down in the puffs to keep sailing at a fast heel angle.
Downwind, you’re going to have to be careful to program a little internal “damping” into your steering to keep from overdoing it. With less feel on the helm, it can be easy to forget just how much power you’ve got down there and accidently whip your tactician off his or her feet with an overly fast course correction.
That having been said, that big, gorgeous rudder is definitely going to come in handy when broad reaching in big winds in a seaway. This is a monohull that can easily hit 17 knots in flat water. Talk about dreamy sailing!
Specifications
LOA 30ft LWL 28ft 8in
BEAM 9ft 10in DRAFT 7ft 6in
DISPLACEMENT 3,995lb (light ship, no crew)
ballast 1,579lb SAIL AREA 640ft2
ENGINE 12hp Volvo with saildrive
Ballast ratio 40%
SA/D RATIO 40 D/L RATIO 75
What do these ratios mean? Visit sailmagazine.com/ratios
DESIGNER Mark Mills
BUILDER C&C Yachts, Warren, RI,
401-247-3000, c-cyachts.com
