Seeking wisdom about the C&C 44

[ztsf]

The other challenge with adding tankage (and even a heavy watermaker if there's even room for one), is maintaining the boat on her lines when the tank is full.

You might try tracking down Rob Ball to ask him the question. A quick internet search showed he was still actively e-mailing as late as 2013. If you can't find a contact on the internet, try talking to Rob McLaughlin at Southshore Yachts (the main supplier of older C&C parts, located in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario). Mr. McLaughlin was Sales Manager of C&C during the time Rob Ball was doing the 34/36's and 37/40's. He might have a contact number for Rob Ball. Keep asking around until you find him. I think his opinion on the 44 would outweigh the rest of ours!

[Eleuthera 2014]

Hello Everyone,

I reread this thread. We may be talking Apples & Oranges...

Either we address the C & C 44 made in Canada or the Beneteau 44CC.

Different boats... so for the OP, which one are you looking at?

Shame to waste our good info about the wrong product.

[Ozwizz54]

Hi Mike. Thanks for sharing. Yes, draft is deeper and a factor for consideration but I'm not that concerned about it having had a 7' (2.1 metre) draft on a previous 43' yacht. The C&C 44s are less than that. In my experience it can make a difference but usually it doesn't except around reef openings, bars at river entrances and the like.

Tankage is a serious factor which is why I'm seeking some answers in that regard. Even if I single-handed all the way home to Australia, some of the legs are long and 100 gallons isn't going to get me there. It was on my list of questions that I needed answering.

The horsepower factor seems okay for boats of this size so I'm not overly concerned in that area. Having said that, I'm open to people's opinions as they may have specific experience in this particular boat type.

Again, thanks for your feedback.

[Ozwizz54]

ztsf suggested:

"You might try tracking down Rob Ball to ask him the question"

What a great idea! That hadn't struck me at all. But now that you mention it...

[Ozwizz54]

I've sailed the Bennys on more than one occasion. Lovely comfortable boat but not what I want for serious off-shore use... (I can already imagine the Beneteau owners picking up the sharp stones to throw) ...and the better ones are out of my price bracket.

To calrify, Russ, we're definitely talking the C&C 44 here. I have no problems in spending plenty of time and some money on it to get what I want. What I'm trying to ascertain is: Is it possible to make a C&C 44 what I want? If not, I'll look elsewhere. I'm already starting to look at the Nordic 44 as suggested earlier as it has different characteristics and is already (in it's base form) the sort of thing I'm looking for.

I suppose I'm attracted to the C&C 44 because quite a bit of my experience has been in blue water racing classics in some pretty hairy conditions. I'm in Melbourne and just outside Melbourne's harbour is Bass Strait - the home to some of the most notorious conditions around and those conditions can change very rapidly. So sailing here can be... er, interesting. Having done quite a few Sydney-Hobart races including the infamous 1984 race (about 2/3 of the fleet was damaged and the death of a friend), I know the immense value of seaworthy and sea-kindly boats.

I also believe that getting there should be fun and the C&C 44 seems to meet that need.

[kabball]

One thing - you mentioned the 44 having less draft than your previous boat which was 7 feet.

Well my C&C 41 has a draft of 7'10" and I know the deep draft 44's were 8'6" if memory serves - certainly over 8 feet.

I agree though - depends where you sail - here in the Pacific North West there is plenty of water and very few places that I won't be able to go. Plenty of water all the way to Hawaii or other locations as well.

Russ


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[kabball]

Yes there is a wing keel and even a center board version of the 44 I think, with of course left draft.

However there isn't a ton of the 44's so might be hard to pick and choose to much.


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[ztsf]

I believe that there are also centerboard versions of the 44 . I remember seeing one up in MA seversl years ago

[lifeofreilly57]

Adding tankage could be interesting. You want to keep it low and in the center of the boat, I considered this on my C&C 38 years ago and settled for jerry jugs when on extended trips, I was also of the mind that I would be selling that boat and moving up in size at the time, so I didn't want to go too crazy with it.
The C&C's tend to have shallow bilges so not much room to add tanks there, most had the tanks in the setties so it's limited to what you can fit there. If it's possible to enlarge the tanks there it would be the best way to go, I know on the C&C's i've been on the the tanks did not take up that entire space, on mine I could probably squeezed in possibly 30-40 more gallons of water.
You certainly don't want to add tanks in the bow or stern, it would affect the sailing characteristics of the boat too much, countering the exact reason you want one in the first place.
ANother thing to consider, most of the C&C's I sailed on (41, 37/40) didn't have a whole lot of space at the bow for anchoring gear, on my 38 I had to make a custom bow plate to accept anchoring gear, then stowed the anchor and gear in a locker when at sea. Don't know what the 44 has for bow roller space though.
All that I've sailed on were capable, solid boats with great sailing characteristics, very responsive with great tactile feedback, just a joy to sail. Reef early.

[kabball]

Yes most need to add a custom bow roller and another SS plate in the anchor locker to mount a windlass

Mine has had this work done which I am glad for as it isn't cheap or that easy.

But There is room for it and a good size for enough chain and rode.


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[japarker11]

Ozz,

With your sailing background, I can easily understand your interest in the C&C 44. Much of their fun factor is derived from the displacement/ballast ratio afford in part by the cored hull laminates. Cruising mods, tankage and ground tackle enhancements, are going to negate that advantage. These days it makes little sense to add water tankage as a good RO filter costs about the same as a 100 gallon tank and weighs 1/10th. I have seen cruising mods that added the water maker and converted a fresh water tank to a fuel tank.

Plain fact is your wish list is going to add weight. I believe there were 44's that were completed more in a cruiser mode. You may see them listed as Bruckman C&C 44. You might compare them to the standard C&C's. Their cruiser enhancements may be satisfactory.

Absent that, as suggested above, Perry's designs generally carry powered up rigs for giving cruiser equipped boats spirited performance offshore. He has a whole drawer full of them that you can check out on his website. They have been built in Asia and North America over the last 35 years under a dozen names. And several are still in production.

I think it was only timing and the recession that we went the Nordic route vs C&C.

Good luck and enjoy the search.




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[Ozwizz54]

As it turned out, I've been able to track down Rob Ball, made initial contact and I've posed the tankage and water maker questions to him. It may take a little time to get the answers - it is spring over there (but getting colder over here) and Easter is upon us. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

The anchor related question was not one I'd considered so thanks for the advice. I've checked the boats currently available and most appear to have done something about this.

Another problem I'm looking at is storage of a RIB dinghy. A 10' dinghy on the deck of a 44' boat is a problem I can do without so I thought davits might solve the dual problem of dinghy storage and solar power. Ugly but possibly a very practical solution.

Any thoughts?

[kabball]

I just tow mine but this is just local sailing.

I know a different 41 that had the Davit system - seems to work well enough.


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[Ozwizz54]

I am concerned about consequences to the boat's balance if I add davits, the dinghy and solar panels. That's going to add a bit of weight a long way back from the centre of balance and it may affect the boat's performance. Could be too that I'm looking too deeply and seeing problems that may not exist.

[ztsf]

Not to dissuade you from your goal, but it seems you might be trying to make the C&C 44 into something that it's not. I loved my C&C 37/40XL (very similar in design), but it's a racer/cruiser (or cruiser/racer depending on your viewpoint), not a full fledged cruiser (which is why I traded mine in for a cruiser). Apart from the tankage issues, and whether there's enough room to add certain cruising "stuff" like gensets and watermakers, etc., the cockpits of these boats are set up for racing. They are very "open", and the seat coamings are very low, to enhance the ability to get out of the cockpit and on deck quickly, as you might need to in a race. I cruised mine on the East Coast of the USA, and got into some 8 to 10 ft. seas occasionally. Can't say that I enjoyed the "openness" during those times. This boat will make for a fast coastal cruiser. Not sure if you're planning to venture offshore and do a long live-aboard. If so, you might want to consider designs that that were originally drawn for that purpose.

Glad you tracked down Rob - the 41, 44 and 37/40 designs are great sailors (we pointed our 6 ft. winged-keel just as high as our deeper-drafted, fin-keeled friends)! Good luck with whatever you do!