The C&C 121 and The Ideal Used Performance Cruiser: Part 2, Comfort

Additional Pluses:  The Pocket Yacht

When I first acquired SV Calypso, my C&C 121, it was with the idea of having  a boat with most of the performance characteristics of a racing boat built by C&C, like my C&C 34, Starwood.  But since I am planning (fantasizing) about a blue water cruise to the Caribbean I wanted a boat that was comfortable with many of the amenities of a mega-yacht, that is, I was looking for  a "pocket yacht".

Comfort and Maintenance

The first is that there is no wood on the deck or elsewhere on the exterior.  To many "traditional" sailors this might seem like wood grab rails, toe rails, and cockpit seats.  
Having had many wood boats and boats with wood trim over the years, I've found that I could spend a month or more getting my wood Lightning ready every spring and sometime more.  The teak wood rails and trim on the O'Day 23 needed to be cleaned and oiled every month (2 to 3 hours) until I varnished it with Cetol, then it took 3 to 4 hours over a week, each spring.  Of course the alternative is to let the wood on deck and the topside get that weathered look.

While that may be OK for some, for me, the gray wood (even on new cruisers) is a sign of poor maintenance.  For this reason, I prefer a deck free of wood.  Yes, both the stainless and the fiberglass deck need some maintenance, but that involves relatively little time when compared with the maintenance of wood toe rails, for example.

Swim Platform with ladder

The swim platform is one component that I love on Calypso.  The reason is that it has many uses. Of course, one is swimming; to swim, to bath, or to clean the bottom of the boat.  A second is sit at anchor and cogitate and ruminate.  A third is to get into and out of a dingy, so having that is comfortable.

Calypso's Swim Platform Before the Refit

It's nicer still, when you have, like on Calypso, an outdoor shower head to rinse the saltwater off.

Below Deck

Below deck has five spaces, two berthing cabins, the combination main saloon and galley, a head, and a very small but usable utility room.  Each of these spaces is required for a "Pocket Yacht", as I will discuss.

Looking Aft from the Front of the Saloon

The Utility Space

Having a Utility space or room separate from any other space, compartment or room is necessary for a "Pocket Yacht".  The reason is that you need a space for all of the electrical and plumbing components necessary for comfort and yet out of the way for "normal" activities.  Most of the current, new "affordable" European boats in the 40 to 50 foot range do not have this most necessary room.  

Because they sell most of there boats to the charter trade, and because people that charter boats for at most two weeks, the requirements for these boats differs greatly from the requirements for pocket yacht.  First, people that charter are normally two or possibly three couples.  Each couple wants their own "stateroom" and their own head; after all, they will be living on this sailing RV for a week and they need their privacy.

However, the requirement for the maximum living space is also embedded in the weekend and weekly coastal cruiser community and for the same reasons.  Many of these people keep their boats docked where they can get electrical service, fuel, water, and pump out services--none of these are available out on blue water.

These reasons and the need for a utility room for blue water cruising is cited in every book I've read on blue water sailing including those of Nigal Calder and Charles Doane.  Still most current European designed boats don't include one.

A utility room or closet makes sense if you think about it for blue water cruising.  The utility room provides a place, much like the corner of the basement in a house, or the utility closet in an apartment.  Here you can locate water pumps, the macerator, charge controllers, charger/inverters for solar panels, and like items and have room to maintain them without tearing up the whole boat.  While not everything I would like to see in the utility room is located in the utility room on my C&C 121, but a good portion of it is.

Galley Design

The design of the galley on the C&C 121 is right out of Calder's, Doane's, and several others books and articles, some of which I read back in the 1960s.  

The Galley

Here's a list in no particular order.

• Counter space--There needs to be a goodly amount of counter space; using the more the better principle.  The C&C 121 has as much or more than most new cruising boat designs.  This is again due to the need for "extra" space for a third cabin and a second head.  So reducing the size of the galley and therefore counter space is an imperative for chartering and OK for coastal cruising.
• Fiddles around the Counter Space--Additionally, there should be fiddles around the counters.  This makes sense since when you are healing and pitching while underway and attempting to use the galley, you don't want the food to fly off the counter tops.  You can see the fiddles in the picture, above.
• U shaped--According to multiple authors who have been world cruisers, the U shaped galley is preferred over all others; especially if the base of the U is facing forward or aft.  The reason is that there is something to lean or hold yourself at least semi-upright with when the boat is underway and pitching and rolling.  One recommendation they all make is to put some type of a line between the two uprights of the U to fully enclose you while performing the chefly duties.  The C&C 121 has exactly that shape while many of the current designs in the 40 to 50 ft range extend the galley along one side or split the galley by a walkway through the center.
• Deep Sinks near centerline--Another design feature that all the authors mentioned is a deep sink near the centerline of the boat.  They say that this is about the only design and location where the sink is usable while the boat is underway.  Again, the galley design on the C&C 121 includes a deep sink, actually a double sink, on the centerline of the boat.  This too, can be seen in the picture above.
• Gimbaled stove/oven--Again, all authors agree, as should be obvious, a gimbaled stove/oven is a requirement for a blue water boat.  And, again, the C&C 121 meets this requirement.
• Front and top loading refrigeration--Refrigeration and refrigerators is a hot topic of cruising sailors because, other than the autopilot and instruments, it uses up the most watts on the boat while sailing.  And at anchor, the fridge will almost use most or all of the wattage.  In the cruising books that I had in the early 1970s, the authors always indicated that you should always add insulation to the fridge (apparently to the point that it had more insulation than room for food and that the best fridges had one door 4" square or less).  That's not entirely true of recent authors.  Now they recognize that doors in the top will not let out cold air (easily) since cold air sinks. So having doors in the top of a fridge so that you can reach in and grab a cold one and then shut the door is OK.  Also, they figured out that having a door on the side that can be opened and closed can help the chef or whoever, locate and dig out items that are in the bottom or on the lower shelf without leaving the top open while dumpster diving for the item.  Again, it happens that the C&C 121 had both types of doors and relatively good insulation as shown in the picture below.

The Fridge

Head Design

According to several blue water cruising authorities, the entire head should be small enough for you to brace yourself while you're using the pot when the boat is underway.  Otherwise, the head will be exciting for the user and messy and stinky for the crew member who needs to clean the head.  As usual, this makes sense for blue water cruising and in this case many new boat designs in the 40 to 50 foot range have two such heads (but I suspect, in the case of the new boat designs it's to satisfy the requirements for separate heads for separate cabins and the need for real estate below deck to satisfy the requirement).

The head

Additionally, the authors of cruising books that I've read and other that I've talked with recommend that the head have a separate shower stall.  Many new design boats don't have a separate shower for the same real estate reasons cited above.  Instead, there is a shower head, generally, either retractable from sink or separate that is located over the toilet with a drain in the bottom of the head/stall.

The reason for this is, as I indicated, the lack of space below deck and the fact that most charterers and people sailing along the coast will never use the shower.  Instead, because most chartering takes place in warm water climates most charters who anchor will use saltwater for "bathing" and rinse of using the outdoor shower in the transom.  Alternatively, they will use the shower stalls in the marina where they are docked.

However, blue water cruisers need a place to shower, if only once a week.  Additionally, since nearly all boats designed since 1975 lack a wet locker (a place to store wet clothes and foul weather gear), a shower serve the purpose nicely.  It allows the items to dry out while, at the same time, draining the excess water into shower's drain.

But like the area around the toilet, the cruisers suggest that it should be a small stall.  The reason is to be able to brace yourself while getting undressed, showering, and dressing again.

Finally, the cruisers recommend that there be a place to sit down in the stall, for dressing, and while showering in rough weather.

The C&C 121 incorporates all of these functions into its head design as you can make out from the picture above.

Berthing

Berthing, really places to sleep, fall into two categories, anchor berthing, places to sleep while at anchor, and sea berthing, places to sleep while actually sailing.  These two types of sleeping areas have very different requirements.

Forward Cabin

Aft Cabin

The pictures, above, are of Calypso's two cabins.  These cabins are particularly nice when Calypso's at anchor or the dock.  These are the type of cabins required by people chartering a boat for a week long vacation and for day sailing/coastal sailors.

I suspect that they will be much less so in rough weather.  The reason is that the crew/guests would slide or bounce around far too much, making sleeping or even resting difficult.

This is the reason for sea berths.  I will discuss this in the section on the Saloon, below.

Nav Station

The navigation station (Nav Station) is another area that most new European designed boats for charter trade eliminate.  Why have a nav station when you intend to spend most of your time in a marina or at anchor?  And for the coastal sailor, why have a nav station when the chartplotter is at helm and you can see the coastline?

So, in the new boat designs the nav station is eliminated altogether.  This "extra" space can be used for a third cabin or a second head.  This makes it much nicer for sitting at anchor or mooring, or at the dock, especially for two or three couples.

The Navigation Station

So why would anyone need a nav station?  Any boat built for blue water racing, like the Volvo 65s have high sophisticated nav stations. The reasons are the same as were before the Digital Age.  The navigation station is the CIC, "Cruising Information Center" of the boat.

The nav station is where most of the displays and controls for the boat's electrical, mechanical, liquid storage systems are located, in addition to it being the navigation station.

It includes a full sized chart table and a seat comfortable for sitting in while to the is heeled.  The reason I call full sized is that I can fit full sized charts on it and in it, and charts are a very good back up to the three GPS navigation systems I have on board.

This chart table/desk top is good for the computer that in this day and age is needed to chart the weather, answer e-mail, plot a course, or any of a dozen other things.  And because it's right across from the galley it can make a good, very temporary surfaces to hold dishes or other things, while entertaining at anchor.

The C&C 121 can have a fully equipped CIC/navigation station.  Calypso is getting such a CIC.

The Saloon

The saloon really has three or possibly four purposes.  It is the "indoor" entertainment/ discussion center, it serves as the "indoor" dining area, it can serve as an office/workroom, and it contains the sea berthing (if designed properly).

The Saloon Facing the Bow

As you can see from the picture above, the saloon of the C&C 121 easily serves the first three purposes.  With its center folding leaf table, around the mast, it works well for four people sitting on the port settee with that leaf up, or for more with both leafs up.  With them down the area works well for entertaining and discussions.  Finally, with one or both leafs up it work well as an office/work center.

It also works well for two sea berths.  A sea berth is a "bed" that is used while sailing the boat; obviously the reason it's called a "sea berth".  A good sea berth is a bed that the person sleeping in it is contained, that is, it's difficult to fall or accidentally roll out of because it has high sides.
Further, the cruising authors and others agree that under sail in rough weather, a crew member can get the most sleep if near the center of the boat.  Not forward or aft because the motion is exaggerated at both ends.  

On the C&C 121 both settees can be set up as sea berths.  The port side settee has an insert makes it into a sea berth with one side contained by the back of the settee and the other by the port leaf of the table.  The starboard side is uses the settee back as one side of containment and a lee cloth as the other.  This is as good or better than most of the new interior designs.  It also means that there is comfortable space, or at least as comfortable as possible for up to four people, whether sailing or at anchor.

Hatches and Windows

Proper ventilation of the interior of a boat is both necessary and difficult according various authors of cruising books.  It is obviously the case that good ventilation is needed in the cabin in summer and in the tropics when sitting at anchor.

The simplest way to ventilate a boat is by opening the boat up and letting the air move through.  This requires hatches and portlights--the more the better.

Having many hatches is good at anchor or on a nice day sailing, but not so nice in heavy weather.  This is because hatches leak and sometimes have more significant problems in heavy seas.  Still it's nice to have many hatches and portlights most of the time.

The Deck Forward of the Hard Dodger

As shown in the picture above, the C&C 121 has 5 hatches ahead of the optional hard dodger and two more (that you can't see) under it.  It also has three portlights in the aft cabin and the companionway entrance making a total of 11 places for the breeze to enter and exit.  This is a reasonable number.

Additionally hatches and  portlights provide daylight into the cabin.  And the C&C 121 like most other modern designs has large non-opening windows in the saloon as can be seen in several pictures, above.

Allowing daylight in can be a two edged blade.  On the plus side, it makes things lighter inside and with the windows you can look out.

The windows on the C&C 121 are all above the deck level.  On many new, especially European designs for the charter trade, are in the topsides.  This is fine for a new boat in the charter trade because the clients can look out of their cabin while at anchor.

I'm not sure how good this is when sailing the boat and all that a client can see is the sky on one side and the water rushing by on the other.  Additionally, window, especially those glued in develop leaks that can be hard to repair.  I know I "fixed" the same leak in Starwood's windows (my 1980 C&C 34) a number of times before finally repairing them.

On the minus side of hatches and windows there are three problems.  First, when the hatches are closed the boat heats up.  Second, they allow people to see in at night while you are at anchor.  

Third, of long term importance in my book, the varnish yellows and lightens the color of the woodwork.  This means time, money, or both for refinishing.  Since this is true on most boats, its not a comparative minus for the C&C 121.

Many of the more recent design boats have some what looks to be fake wood or wood that is painted so as not to fade.  I really don't like this type of interior decorating on the interior of a boat, though it does make sense for the boat chartering.

Lighting/Red Lighting

The interior lighting on the C&C 121 is as good would be expected of a 1999 to 2010 boat.  It has multiple types of well located fixtures throughout the boat.  I especially like the red lights located along the cabin sole, as shown in the picture below.

The Lit saloon

These red lights are in both cabins, the saloon/galley and head.  This makes them quite useful during night passages because the provide light while not completely destroying the crews night vision.

Given all of these functions and features of sailing, on deck, and below deck, the C&C 121 it's my opinion that it would be difficult to find a better designed cruising boat.  However, in Part 3 I will discuss some of the options I've added to make it even better.