Hi Group,
I thought maybe I'd chime in on this C&C history thread.
Dunes and I both go way, way back with C&C. We grew up in and around
Youngstown which is right across the river from Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Our clubs are almost like one club, divided by a border. We grew up
racing and sailing with and against the Hinterhollers, Brimsmeads and
all the C&C guys.
My personal history actually pre-dates C&C by a fair bit. When we
bought our Shark, George didn't have an office per se, you went and had
dinner with the Hinterhoellers. Our families used to meet up for a few
days most summers cruising our Sharks in the Thousand Islands. Richard
and I were about the same age and Barbara and my sister were about the
same age. Gabrielle was practically a grown-up.. she was probably 12
when I was 9...
Long story short, I knew George and his family and I'm pretty sure he
would approve of the 30! Two main reasons: First, it is really easy to
forget just how radical the Shark was in the day. Now, we're pretty
used to 24 foot boats planing.... in 1962 that just did not
happen...except for Sharks!
Second- George is also pretty famous for telling a client who wanted
standing headroom in a 30 footer, "It is better to cut off your
legs". He was a no BS kinda guy.
I follow this list and it's pretty fun. Sometimes I think that ya'll
forget that the C&Cs that are now serving as great cruising boats we NOT
cruising boats when they were new. C&C's bread and butter was
performance boats. They would go and win the SORC, They would build the
Canadian Admiral's Cup team and the string of Canada's Cup boats they
did were freaking amazing. People would buy the production boats and go
race them IOR, or in Ton classes. They were hot boats!
Our Redline 41 is very true to the spirit of her ancestor. I grew up
racing on the mighty Pivot III, one of the original Redlines. I still
see her every week when I go Mumm30 sailing. They Awlgripped her (
still red ) and removed the pulpits and lifelines. She looks awesome,
kinda metre boatish, very, very classic. That was a boat that won the
SORC over-all. ( Not Pivot, Condor). Also, she was the first boat
to really carry the C&C flag. (the boat company, not the design office)
At this point in her life, she's a cruiser, but when she was new, she
was as crazy racy as a HPR boat is now.
As far as our Redline looking like a MIlls boat.... she IS a Mills
boat! I would think that the C&C list more than anyone would understand
that designers develop a look! Go to Andy's office and if you can't
pick out the C&C models hanging on his wall, you need to turn in your
C&C guy card!
The Redline is going to be great for people who still want what C&C used
to offer, a world-class race boat with a yacht quality interior. You
can race her, cruise her and entertain your friends aboard her. There
are a few different interiors to choose from and some of the boats will
be racier and others cruisier. There is a shallower draft option, but
it will still draw a couple inches more than Andy's C&C 40. But just a
couple. If i know Andy, a 6 inch difference in draft would not change
his thinking on where he could go and where he couldn't go!
Modern is not all bad. The new Redline is going to be MUCH easier for a
husband and wife team to actually sail than ANY previous C&C biggish
boat. Non overlapping jib, main halyard to a powered winch and a top
down furler on a sprit-flown genniker will make this a boat you will
sail more and motor less.
On to the 30..
Back in the day, the 30 probably would have come from the Custom Shop.
They did a bunch of pretty 'out there' boats. They had the advantage of
having ton classes to race in. Say what you like about IOR, but it DID
make it pretty easy to build race boats have some boats to race
against. Today, the goal pretty much has to be one-design. We don't
have a Half-Ton Cup to go win. ( although, this boat will be about as
fast as 2 tonners used to be!) The pure C&C race boats of the past;
Magistri, Evergreen, Spirit ( C&C 38 one-tonner) or the half tonners,
didn't pretend to be cruisers either!
The 30 is NOT a sportsboat. It is conceived as an entry-level grand
prix boat. You can race the short and medium distance races on her,
smoke your Wednesday night fleet and just have a blast. Someone
compared it to the MummFarr 30 and you nailed it. We are the builder
for the Farr30 and in my opinion, it is the best sailboat ever. She was
the entry level grand-prix boat of 1996. It's almost 2014 and time for
a new best boat ever.
I really do think that George H would heartily approve of the 30! He and
my Dad are probably up on Fiddler's Green boasting about how they'd
cruise that thing.... ( they would too, but they were slightly nuts)
Someone else thought that the C&C30 was too racy for their needs and was
considering an Alerion 28. Excellent choice! We build those too.
There are sooooo many C&Cs and soooo many different owners that it is
going to be hard to match up with what C&C means to all of you! Our
plan is to take the essence of what made C&C great and carry it
forward. We grew up with the brand and the people who created the brand
were some of our childhood heroes. We could have named our new line of
performance racers and racer cruisers anything we wanted. It was a ton
of extra work and money to be able to carry on the C&C name and
tradition, but we felt it was worth it.
Why? Because that history means a lot to us.
Will
PS - Somebody doesn't like the new logo?!?!? Really. Come on....the
flag is flying again!
PSS - I don't care how depressed you get, we are NOT bringing back the
aluminum toerails. Hiking on them for my entire childhood stunted my
growth!
--
Will Harris
Waterline Systems
716-531-6088
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