Continued Growth for C&C 30 One Design

The C&C 30 One Design Class, which had its first event last June, proved to be one of the prominent fleets at 2016 Key West Race Week. Geoffrey Ewenson, winning tactician on Walt Thirion’s Themis, provides this report…

Sailing in Key West is always fun, and with the windy weather and big waves we had this year, we all were plenty challenged on the race course. With 11 boats, this was the largest one design event to date for the class, and definitely the most competitive.

The level of the fleet has consistently been on the rise as more people have spent more time on the water and figured out what makes these boats work. These boats sail like ‘Mini Big Boats’, feeling like a much larger platform when you race them.

The reality is that four different boats won the four individual days racing and the overall lead was never stable until the last race was cancelled. There were five different race winners in the 9-race series. This class has a very level playing field, which is why it is so much fun to sail in.

As far as the class goes, we are at a critical time here. The class is figuring out what it wants to be, and if we can continue to have critical mass like in Key West, then more people will be attracted to the boats the excitement and the class will thrive. I hope that they do everything they can to allow for continued growth.

Not everything is perfect and as with all new classes there are a lot of people with the best of intentions trying to minimize mistakes made by other one design classes of the past. I am confident that the strength of the boat and the fun factor involved in sailing these boats will bring more people to the starting line.

After each race day at Key West, our team made a point to go to the event tent each night to support the sponsors, but also understood that the week is a marathon and not a sprint. Some of us who are no longer under 40 seem to find our way to bed earlier than others. The youth of the team has the stamina to enjoy a beer or two after dinner at some of the local haunts but never to the point that they are less than ready for the next day.

However, after the awards on Friday night, there was a bit of a celebration, with a crew meal in town and then some Duval Street crawling. It is always a rough day trying to clean up and pack up on Saturday with a bit of a dust on, but after a long week of racing it is fun to let er rip a bit! We all made it home unscathed and can look back on the whole event with a smile!