01-20-2004
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2000
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Contessa 32
As a former C&C 30 owner, I can comment on that choice. Not sure what year you are looking at, however, mine was a 1984. (I think the models may differ quite a bit from year to year.) In any case, here are my impressions. We used the boat almost every summer weekend for about 5 years. This mainly consisted of day sailing on Narragansett Bay (Newport, RI) with occasional trips to Block Island, CT shore, the Elizabeth Islands, Martha''s Vineyard, and Nantucket. The boat is "small" for a 30 footer inside with a v-berth in the front followed by a head with sink. Further back there was a double to port and a single to starboard. There was no quarter berth(s). The galley ran athwartships and was basically intersected by the ladder coming into the cabin. I found that she handled quite well in most conditions including light air and the heavy stuff. She fell more into the performance end of the spectrum and we found ourselves outpacing cruising boats. Fin keel. Sizeable rudder. Ours was retrofitted with a wheel and had a Yanmar diesel engine. I believe the quality of build was good. Only drawback was the relatively small cabin considering the boat''s size. I would recommend it for the purposes that you have stated. I also looked at a Contessa 32. While I will leave it to JeffH and other experts to comment, it seemed to me that the Contessa was a SERIOUS cruising boat, very solidly built, and, while capable of handling many conditions, very heavy and slow for our non-serious cruising purposes. (Just my 2 cents.) Best of luck to you. Remember that every boat is a compromise and every boat owner loves his or her choice in boats. Having spent many years on this board, I would recommend that you pay close attention to what JeffH has to say as I believe that he has a breadth and depth of knowledge that is rare.
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