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C&C 33 Boat Review

While not strictly pure racer or pure cruiser, the C&C 33 is a good choice as an all-around boat.

Catalina 22 Specifications

When the C&C company shut down operations in 1986, it was big news in the NorthAmerican boating community. Since thecompany’s formation in 1969, it had been a stalwartof the industry—the leading Canadian builder, byfar, and one of the major brands wherever fiberglasssailboats raced or cruised.

The company had gone through numerouschanges, of course. The original two Cs, GeorgeCuthbertson and George Cassian, have not beeninvolved with the company in over a decade. Andduring the 1970s, the design and building shopswere known for their “revolving doors,” as personnel worked for the company for a few years and thenwent out on their own. Almost all Canadian designers and builders practicing today have worked for C&C at one time or another, and we would wager that, at any given boat show in North America, 25%of the salesmen with ten or more years experiencehave either worked for the company or for a C&Cdealership. The company always employed peoplewho like to sail.

C&C always featured the combination sailboat—the dual purpose racer-cruiser—and always aimed atquality construction and detail, fitting a niche in themarket below the outstanding luxury yacht but abovethe standard, midline fiberglass auxiliary.

C&Cs have been known for good-looking moderate designs, a tradition started by the original partners and the company’s chief designer Rob Ball.Some models—like the early Corvettes and C&C35s—have become classics of production sailboats,and (except for the Mega, a one-design 30-footer ofthe late 70s) it’s hard to think of any C&C which has been extreme or unattractive to the eye.

Performance always was a hallmark of C&C. Most of their models were heavily marketed as serious racers,and old C&Cs continue to be actively raced in PHRF fleets throughout the country. Even their out-and-out cruising line—the Landfall series—is basedon their racer-cruiser hulls. The old Landfall 38, for example, used the hull of the highly competitive C&C 38, with modified keel, deckhouse, rig, andaccommodations.

The company always was known for building onthe high-tech side of the spectrum. They were thefirst major company to commit to cored constructionof hulls, and only Tillotson-Pearson can compare toC&C in terms of experience with balsa-cored laminates. They were also the first major company tocommit to solid rod rigging, and they have a traditionof rigging and equipping their boats with first-classspars and fittings.

In design, the C&C 33 is distinctly modern, thoughit has conservative lines. C&C did not go after the“Euro” look in any of their models. Like the othernew C&C models, the boat has a flat sheer, sharplyreversed transom and sharply angled bow. Though most people will probably consider the older models prettier—with their saucy sheer and low deck houses—the later 33 is good looking and recognizable as a C&C even from a distance.

The hull is modern but not radical, with a fineentry and cutaway forefoot. There’s a hard turn to thebilge about a foot below the waterline, and the verycenter of the hull is flat. The standard fin keel isc onventionally modern, but there was both an op-tional shorter fin and a keel/centerboard combination available for the boat. A small skeg is fittedahead of the spade rudder. The static waterline is somewhat shorter and the beam somewhat narrowerthan most other boats in her size. “Moderate” is agood term to summarize the whole concept of theboat.

The new 33 was introduced in 1984, and over 200 of them were built in the four years the boat was inproduction—impressive considering the company’sbusiness problems in the middle of the run, and the heavy competition in this size from American and European companies. The success of this modelindicates that there is still a hard-core clientele outthere who are not interested in style fads but insteadwant a good moderate design that is well engineered and well built, a boat that can be both raced andcruised.

Construction
Hull construction represents a departure from traditional C&C practices, in that only the forward panels of the hull are balsa cored. The rest of the hull is aconventional hand lay-up of mat and roving, with anisophthalic gelcoat and skinning resin. The 33’slarger sisters (35, 38, 41, and 44) have balsa coringthroughout their hulls, while the smaller sisters (30and 27) have no coring at all in the hull.

The cored laminate offered stiffness and strength combined with light weight, and was one of C&C’skeys to building tough race boats that wouldn’t flex too much, yet which still kept the total weight down.To achieve stiffness and strength without the coring,C&C used what they call a “spider” system: basically a structural framing bonded to the hull and integrated with the attachment points for the rig and keel. The hull laminate itself becomes relatively lessimportant structurally, as the frame becomes the primary load-bearing structure of the boat.

Undoubtedly the decision to move from balsacoring to “skin and frame” construction was based partly on the economics of building and partly on thestrength calculations for the engineering, and we really cannot say what proportion of each affected the decision.

The deck is one-piece molding with balsa core inthe horizontal surfaces, and hardware is backed upwith both aluminum and Coremat for strength in theattachment points. The textured non-skid is adequate.

The gelcoat is generally of good quality and the hull is generally fair. We examined a two-year-old boat and found that the finish had held up and thatthere were no signs of stress cracking anywhere,even though the boat had been raced seriously andused hard.

The hull-to-deck joint is standard practice, withan inward-turning hull flange on which the deck isset. Stainless bolts run through the joint and through an aluminum toe rail which covers the joint. The whole stem fitting as well as the corner pieces for thetoerail are the heavy aluminum castings that are traditional on C&C boats, but it is interesting thatC&C used plastic moldings for the stanchion baseson the 33.

The rudder is fiberglass over a webbing of stain-less welded to the stainless steel rudder post. Thestandard fin keel (6' 4" draft) is external lead, boltedto a stub on the hull. The centerboard option isunusual in that it is a fiberglass molding with somelead inside, and the board is fitted entirely inside ashallow keel (4' 4" draft) fitted to the hull.

The fiberglass board is lighter (for lifting) andquieter than a more common steel board which willtend to bang around in the centerboard trunk. The fiberglass molding also makes for a better-shaped and fairer fin for upwind work. The lifting cable is housed inside the keel, so it presents no drag and makes no noise at speed. The cable passes throughthe cabin, housed in a stainless steel tube which also supports the cabin table, and is led to a stopper and winch on the aft end of the cabin house.

The fin keel weighs 3,975 pounds (42% of totaldisplacement); the keel/centerboard, at 5,258 pounds,is much heavier. Nominal displacement for the fin-keel version is 9,450 pounds; for the centerboard version 10,733 pounds.

Rig
The early model that we sailed had a rig from the C&Cs par shop, known in its time as a builder of sturdy high-performance rigs. The spars on the later models came not from C&C but from Offshore Spars inDetroit. Though well known in the Midwest (theymade the spars for the S2 7.9 and 9.1, as well ascustom race rigs), the company’s rigs are not often seen on the East or West Coasts except on grand prixracers.

We examined just one spar from Offshore, and it appears that little was lost in the change. The mastand boom are fairly heavy extrusions, painted white,with integral grooves for taking bolt rope or slugs.The mast comes standard with internal halyards and lifts, as well as an internal wiring conduit and VHFcable. The boom has built-in slab reefing gear. The mast is stepped on the keel.

The standing rigging is made up of Navtec stainless rod, tangs, and turnbuckles, with 1 x 19 stainless for the adjustable babystay and for the split part ofthe lower backstay. Main and jib halyards are stainless with rope tails, and we were surprised to discover that the wing halyard is galvanized steel witha rope tail. The shroud chainplates, set inboard for close sheeting, are attached to the hull by stainless rods between the deck and hull anchor points.

The boat came standard with good quality hard-ware for rig control. Spinnaker winches and gear,boom vang, and backstay adjuster were options.

Engine/Mechanical Systems
The Yanmar 2GM engine is a bit tight in the engine compartment, but otherwise the installation is firstrate. The engine beds are actually part of the structural “spider” beams. The engine box is insulated with sound deadener, and the engine is about asquiet as you can expect a two-cylinder diesel to be.The standard solid prop should be replaced with afolder.

The electrical system and plumbing are well done.Electricity includes a good 12-volt system with ample interior lighting. A 120-volt shore power system,with a 50' shore cord, was standard equipment. Athree-burner propane stove with oven and safety solenoid was standard, as was hot-and-cold pressurized water. The 30-gallon water tank is adequate fortypical cruising, though ocean sailors may want toconvert the standard 24-gallon head holding tank tofresh water storage. Installation of all the equip-ment—like the electrical hot water heater, and the valving for the water system—is secure and seaman-like.

Handling Under Power
The 20 hp Yanmar is big enough to handle the boat.We were under power only in fairly flat water, withan optional Martek folding prop, and had no prob-lems backing or turning. The engine pushed the boatto hull speed easily. We suspect a big head sea will challenge the peak output of the engine, probably slowing the boat to four knots or so, but the amountof power is ample for all reasonable sailors in almostall conditions.

Steering is with the standard 36" destroyer wheel. Throttle and shift controls are integral to the pedestal, and visibility over the deck house is good when you are sitting on the “bubble hump” behind the wheel.

The aluminum fuel tank holds 20 US gallonswhich should be good for about 180 miles of power-ing under normal conditions. The engine control panel is in one “bay” of the T-shaped cockpit. You can’t see it easily from the steering position, butthat’s a very minor inconvenience.

Access to the engine is adequate, through theremovable companionway steps, through opening panels on both the port and starboard side of the engine, and through the cockpit seat locker.

Handling Under Sail
We probably wouldn’t have considered writing up the C&C 33 if we hadn’t sailed it first. The boat does look like it should be an all-around wholesome boat,but we initially thought of it as not particularly a stand out in its size and price range.

Our sail convinced us otherwise, and we eventu-ally chartered one for three races in a four-race series. We found the 33 to be a fine sailer, just about everything we would want in its size.

What did we find so appealing? Basically, it is aboat that combines good performance with comfortable sailing. To put it another way, it performs wellwithout demanding the incessant tweaking and crew movement of so many high-performance boats. We found that a group of five (nearly) middle-aged racers could push the boat hard and make it sail well,without reverting to being collegian hot-shot Lasersailors. In short, unlike so many performance boats,the C&C 33 is not an oversized dinghy.

We sailed the centerboard version and found no particular shortcomings. With a good set of sails, theboat was at least as weatherly as any boat in her PHRF division. We tried sailing the reaches and the runs with the board up and with the board down andcould not discern any difference in speed, though as charterer we deferred to the owner’s conviction that the boat was faster off the wind with the board up. (Itdid give the crew something to do.) The boat seemed to steer as well with the board up as with it down.

With the extra weight, we presume that the center-board model is a little harder to push around a racecourse in light air, but in 15-knot winds, she had to ask no favors, and in the 22-knot wind we saw for onerace, she was a pleasure to sail compared to the other boats on the race course.

Very noticeable about her behavior was that her motion was not at all the quick hobble so characteristic of contemporary lightweight racers. She has a heavy weight feel but still is responsive and lively.

In heavy air, she seemed to easily sail to her PHRF rating of 135, making her roughly comparable in speed to a J/30, Pearson 39, and many of the early1970s one-tonners. For racing, the fin-keel model issupposedly three to six seconds per mile faster thanthe centerboard model.

Interestingly, for the fourth race of the series, weleft the C&C docked and sailed on one of the boats in her class, an S2 9.1, known as a speedy boat withgood accommodations. It was a striking contrast, likea big dinghy which has to be tamed and brought to submission in order to go fast. The C&C 33—with approximately equal speed through the water—seemed like a sweet kitten in contrast.

Our handicap let us win the series of races with two firsts and a second. In absolute terms, we know that there are faster boats around. Most of them,unfortunately, are a pain to handle as the wind pipesup, and we wouldn’t want to sail them on some of the long, rainy slogs that we often encounter in cruising. Short handed, most of the faster boats are miserable.

The C&C 33, in contrast, is an easy sailer, respectable in light winds, and a pleasure in heavy.

On Decks
The deck layout on the C&C 33 is conventional. The double lifelines with port and starboard life linegates, pulpit, and pushpit are sturdy, well made, and come as standard equipment. The pushpit has a gate which can be fitted with stern ladder—a good ideafor both the racer and cruiser.

Like most modern boats, the foredeck is quite narrow, so anchoring and sail handling can be difficult. The walkways leading aft are wide because ofthe inboard shrouds and easy to move along either heeled or upright because of the moderate deck camber.

Because of the sculpting and window shape, thecabin house looks low, but it is actually quite high—a difficult step up from the walkways or cockpit. Fortunately, because all the lines lead aft to the backedge of the cabin, there’s not much occasion to walk on the cabin top abaft the mast. Forward of the mast, the cabin slopes gradually into the deck, and movement is easy. However, the skylight over the headand the forward hatch are slippery stumble-makersand need to have non-skid tape put on them.

We haven’t seen a dodger for the 33 yet, and the sculpting of the cabin house may make it difficult to design a wide one. A narrow dodger, fitting just overthe companion way, would work well.

The cockpit is a conventional T-shape with abridgedeck on which the traveler is mounted. Anoptional cabin-top traveler is available, but there seems to be little to recommend it. The cockpit seats are comfortable for sitting but too short to lie down on. The forward part of the coaming is okay forsitting, but you’ll be inclined only to stand on the cockpit sole, aft of the bench seats. The cockpit is definitely skewed a little toward the racing side ofthis boat’s dual purposes, and it will be a much better cockpit underway than dockside.

Hardware is good quality and well arranged. The standard winches are of adequate size, though the boat is stiff enough to carry a heavy 150% genoa in 20knots of wind, and that’s a handful for the #24 primaries unless the racing crew is on board.

As is the case in most modern boats, there’s not too much above decks storage room. An anchor well forward will stow a Danforth, but everything else will have to go into the one aft locker under the starboard cockpit seat. It’s a cavernous locker, butthe serious cruiser will have to devise a way to sub-divide it to make it more usable. Behind the helms-man are a small locker for propane bottles and asmall stowage spot for winch handles or beer cans.

Belowdecks
The arrangements below decks are conventional: aV-berth forward, head with shower opposite a hanging locker; port and starboard settees outboard of asaloon table; L-shaped galley; nav station at the headof a double quarterberth (well, maybe one-and-three-quarter quarterberth). From the center bulk head aft, the boat is wide open, which seems to us like a more sensible arrangement than the “Euro” compartmentalizing of the aft cabin and aft head, at least in a boatthis size.

Here’s a couple of good details. A decent built-inbureau in the forward cabin is a nice touch. The head compartment is a single fiberglass molding, including even the wash basin—all compact and well designed. The galley is quite serviceable, with a good stove and a stainless bash bar to keep you from crashing into it.

The teak ceiling and bulkhead veneer contrast with the off-white hull liner. The liner is well done, with removable panels for servicing hardware fit-tings, wiring, and so on.

For some reason, the covers for the instrument “pods” on the aft bulkhead were a chintzy teakplywood, poorly cut. But otherwise, all the detail below was plain but well thought out—pretty characteristic of C&C cabins.

Overall, the cabin is comfortable. We’ve oftenheard older C&C’s rapped as “leaky” boats, with drips around windows and under heavily-loaded deck hardware, but the boat we sailed had several seasons of serious racing and cruising and was completely dry.

Conclusions
If we were entirely devoted to racing, we’d probably look at something different—maybe a Frers 33 or perhaps the J/33 or possibly even a J/35. If we were entirely into cruising, we’d also look at different boats—maybe something more like a Nonsuch or a Mason 33.

But if we wanted to continue the kind of sailing we enjoy most—with a good share of racing contrasted with some serious week ending and at least one long cruise a season, sailed short handed—the C&C 33 would be among the boats we’d buy. Though in someways she seems plain and undistinctive, she is admirably suited to be both a racer and a cruiser—a tough combination to find in the modern market. It’s a boat for sailors who truly want a racer-cruiser and know what they’re looking for.

PS