I have owned my '79 C&C 26 Encounter for 3 years and have really enjoyed it. It will be tough to find a more spacious 26 footer that sails reasonably well and has the quality of C&C. There are 2 versions - the Encounter has shoal draft of 3'-11" which helps get into shallower waters. The standard 26 has a draft of 4'-7" so is able to point a little higher. Neither is a speedster, but it is a fun boat to sail. Mine has the wheel and really behaves like a 30' boat - many others have called it such. A really nice small cruiser that is good for a couple and very affordable, with bigger boat featuers like wheel, inboard diesel, etc. I have added a ProFurl system for the headsail with a new 135% RF genoa; replaced the original C&C lifeline stanchion bases with the newer C&C style that install completely on the toe rail and thus clean up the deck 100%; and installed a Garhauer rigid vang. You can visit the C&C Photo Album website and there are some pics of C&C 26 exteriors and interiors.

Rob Waltenbaugh [robwalten@comcast.net]