Ranger 26

[ovidius]

Does anybody have more information on the Ranger 26 (the ones built in Kent,Wa),as I looked at one the other day and I am very intrigued by them. I am having a hard time getting more info on them. Thank you !!!

[Jeff_H]

The Rangers that I knew were California boats and later Mass. boats. I really don''t recall them being built in Washinton state. If this is the boat that I am thinking of they were slightly larger versions of the Ranger 23 and both were really nice Gary Mull designs from the mid 1970''s. I have always thought these were neat boats that offered very well rounded sailing abilities for that era. They were reasonably fast and easy to sail well. They were not super well constructed but were reasonably well built for their purpose as coastal cruiser/racers. I would imagine you can still race these at the club level under PHRF.

Jeff

[olson34]

The Ray Richards designed Ranger 26 went into production about 1977 and was offered with an outboard well at the back of the cockpit (similar to the Richards designed Ranger 24), or a single cylinder Yanmar diesel. They are a trailerable keel-centerboard design, and considered very well-built. There is a web site maintained by an owner at --http://home.europa.com/~stargazr/.
There is boat info on the site and a boat listed for sale (!).

Some funny trivia: around about 1980, the conglomerate that owned "Ranger Yachts" in California threatened Ranger Boat Co, in Kent, WA with a suit over the name. It turned out that Ranger Boat was incorporated much earlier and Ranger Yachts had to change *their* name for a couple years until an agreement with the little company in Kent was reached and some $$ were paid to the "little" company.
Sometimes... the little guy wins...


LB