In 1961, when two Canadian sailors—George
Cuthbertson, a mechanical engineer, and George Cassian, an aircraft
designer—formed the design group Cuthbertson and Cassian,
they could not have foreseen the legacy their partnership would
create (C & C Sailboats). The two started out by designing a
few steel and wood boats, Cuthbertson drafting the preliminary lines,
and Cassian working on the interior plans and details. When they
joined forces with yacht builder George Hinterhoeller and Ian Morch
of Belleville Marine, however, they moved up to the big leagues
of sailboat production.
The entire sailing industry saw tremendous growth
through the '70s, much of it in response to the high oil prices
of the day. With a strong Canadian dollar behind them, C
& C was in the right position to benefit, and they
did, with double-digit growth throughout the decade. Plant expansion
and the development of a dealer network helped to maintain the strong
business. Dealers would say that C&C was the easiest line of
boats to sell; its reputation for reliability and high performance
resulted in boats that would essentially sell themselves.
In 1997, Fairport Yachts, builders
of Tartan Yachts, assumed control of C
& C. Tim Jackett, Tartan's in-house designer, set to
work designing a new line of boats that would preserve the design
characteristics and performance lineage of the C & C
brand. Jackett took cues from the great designers at C &
C before him, but his original ideas were also informed
by his own experiences designing, building, sailing, and winning
in custom racers. Since 1997, C & C Yachts
has introduced three new models- the C&C 99, 110, and 121—and
produced over 150 boats. In 2002, C & C became
the first production sailboat builder to build
its entire line with post-cured, foam-cored epoxy hulls, featuring
a vacuum-bagged, wet-preg epoxy laminate with uni-directional “E”-glass
and carbon local reinforcements. For 2004, C & C
has jumped up another notch by equipping all models with carbon-fiber
masts—standard.
With innovations in epoxy hulls and carbon-fiber
masts, C & C Yachts today continues to define
the industry-leading design and construction styles that Cuthbertson
and Cassian inspired nearly 40 years ago in order to create what
remains the industry's performance sailing leader.
