[MedSailor]

A friend and sailing buddy of mine owns a Catalina 400 which he races and cruises with his family of 4 in the PNW. He is looking for something similar, but easier to single-hand and handle, hopefully lighter weight to reduce costs and is more racing oriented. He still wants to preserve the ability to cruise in relative comfort compared to the Catalina 400. The boat will also be doing the Vic Maui (with me aboard!) in 2 years.

He's favoring the C&C 115. Half the weight of his current boat, which should reduce maintenance costs. Similar accommodations below. Much more racing oriented. He believes it will be better for single handing, and while you can reach the traveller easily from the wheel, it looks difficult to get around the big wheel to get to the sheets.

Thoughts? This kind of boat is not really my area of expertise. Any other boats he should be considering?

C&C115 of yachtworld
Another C&C 115 on yachtworld

MedSailor

 

[BarryL]

Hello,

I own a C&C 110 (the predecessor to the 115), race against a 115, and a friend just bought a 121, so I am prejudiced towards C&C. The 115 is a very fast boat that can comfortably cruise.

I don't know if it will be any cheaper to maintain than a Catalina 400. I don't believe there is a relationship between displacement and maintenance costs. I think that most 40' boats, comparably equipped, will cost about the same to maintain. Or course, if one boat has teak decks, lots of varnished wood, and is a ketch or cutter rig, that will cost more to maintain than a simple sloop with no wood. But assuming similar type boats, maintenance should be about the same.

The C&C is much faster than the Catalina: C&C 115 PHRF ratings around 66-70, catalina 400 ratings are around 110). The C&C comes with a retractable bow sprit, so flying an asym spinnaker is easy.

The 115 is smaller than the C400, I think the C&C 121 would be a better boat to compare. That said, if you're not spending weeks at a time aboard, the 115 should be big enough for 4 people to cruise comfortably.


Good luck,
Barry

 

[MedSailor]

Thanks Barry! I really appreciate your comments. Any known issues with this boat or other C&Cs that we need to know about?

 

[blt2ski]

THere is ONE 115 in the area that is not equal from the mast side to side. Not sure which one it is tho. THere were some issues in the early to late 0X range, and into the early 1X. One can probably still find some of the issues with the C&C and Tartan boats of this era.

With that, I know of two with these boats. Overall they like them. I have raced on one, that a couple has cruised locally themselves with out issues. I personally did not notice any issues getting around the wheel per say, nor did it get in the way of the main, jib or spin sheets.

There is one in Everett that is raced a lot! I can look it up if one wants to get a hold of that owner.

If you look at one, make sure the mast is centered, otherwise that one will not race really well, probably cruise ok.....but one tack will be better than the other tack!

Marty

 

[MedSailor]

Marty if you could put me in touch with the Everett owner I would be grateful!

 

[JimsCAL]

There were some serious issues with the epoxy hulls on several C&C and Tartan boats that received a lot of press about 5 years ago. This article in the BoatUS magazine is a good summary that presents both sides of the problems.

http://my.boatus.com/consumer/pdf/2010-12-ItsTheSolutionThatCounts.pdf

 

[Faster]

A friend just bought a 7 year old 115 - (no bowsprit, btw, so that may have been an option) Decent layout, nice finish (Cherry) below for a 'race boat'..Pretty good cockpit and I'm sure it would sail circles around the C400.

From a cruising standpoint, what struck me is the mainsheet arrangement (double ended leading to the aftmost cockpit winches) - traveller is reachable, sort of, but the winches are not really accessible from behind the wheel. That said, when sailing upwind I'd expect the helmsman would be straddling the wheel on the side deck so that will help.. but the headsail winches are a long way forward. Autohelm will be helpful, getting around the wheel will be a challenge for the less agile.

Below the galley sink is far too big.. a water waster. They've already started using a plastic tub for doing dishes to save water.

VERY good looking boat, as are most C&Cs,(to my eye) many seem to be dark coloured hulls which adds to the appeal, esp with the mutliple boot stripes, she looks to be doing 6 knots sitting at the dock!

 

[PaulinVictoria]

I've raced on one a few times, nice boat, sails very well, we were reaching back to the finish line doing 8+ kts the whole way. Big wheel, actually, massive wheel, feels great when you're stood behind it. There was one for sale locally, if only I'd had $200k burning a hole in my pocket. The CnC list is a good place to ask about any problems, there are a few 115 owners on there that post quite regularly.

 

[Faster]

......There was one for sale locally, if only I'd had $200k burning a hole in my pocket. ...

Probably the same one our friends just bought - 'Chris Cross'...

 

[PaulinVictoria]

Yep, that's the one, nice looking boat with the dark hull.

 

[MedSailor]

My friend was bummed when that one sold. The rest of the ones for sale are way out of town...

 

[Coquina]

The C&C will be WAY more fun to sail. I can't imagine how it would be cheaper to maintain though on average. A nice C&C is cheaper to maintain than a wrecked Catalina and vice versa, but there is no routine maintenace task I can see that will be very different from one to the other.