Contessa 26
Encyclopedia
The Contessa 26 is a 7.77 meter (25.6 ft) fiberglass
monohull
sailboat
, brought about when Jeremy Rogers
, with a background in traditional wooden boatbuilding along with one of his Folkboat customers, David Sadler
, created a modified version of the same boat in GRP. Rigged as a masthead
sloop
, with a deep keel
and a hull
-mounted rudder
, the Contessa 26 was launched in 1966 and early boats proved to be very successful racers, including long-distance events. Jeremy Rogers went on to produce the classic Contessa 32
.
which was conceived by the Royal Gothenburg Sailing Club in 1939 as a new one design class for the masses which would provide more accommodation for the cruising family than the traditional Dragon Class. This idea effectively spawned a competition organised by the Swedish Sailing Association in 1940 that attracted 58 entries. Choosing one winner proved difficult so the final design was effectively decided by committee and Tord Sundén was commissioned to draw a boat based upon designs from Sweden's Jac Iversen and Denmark's Kned Olsen. Sometimes named the VW of the seas, the Folkboat concept was the same as Porsche's Volkswagen: to make a car/boat that was appealing across a wide section of society. In 1942 the Folkboat was as much a creation of the century of the common man as the bicycle. It's one of the most popular designs of all time and Loibner says there are more than 4,000 still around. With her graceful lines, acutely raked transom and easily handled rig, she proved almost as fast as a Dragon, and considerably more seaworthy.
in Lymington, England in 1966. The Rogers boat works built approximately 350 Contessa 26s from 1966 to 1977, after which the moulds were sold to Chris Carrington of Maclan Marine, Lymington, who produced a few more during 1977/8. Another set of moulds was shipped to Canada, where they were built until 1990 under licence by J. J. Taylor & Sons Ltd. of Toronto. J.J. Taylors built another 400 or so boats, originally being sold as Contessa 26s, but after 1984 being called J J Taylor 26s - some of these later boats had a slightly modified deck moulding with an enlarged 'hump' by the hatchway to give greater headroom, and a slightly revised interior layout, although the hull always remained the same.
In the same race Richard Clifford sailed Shammaal II, finishing in 33 days and 12 hours to take 18th place in the J Class , 30th Overall out of a starting field of 125 of which 73 finished.
in Varuna, as described in her book Maiden Voyage, and Brian Caldwell who in 1995 aged 19, began a journey of 27000 miles (43,452.2 km) to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. These latter two being in the J. J. Taylor built Canadian version of the 26.
Norwegian couple Henrik Nor-Hansen and Nina Kristin Nilsen are currently undertaking a circumnavigation in their Jeremy Rogers 1976 Contessa, Bika having set-off from Norway in Spring 2005.
Australian Nick Jaffe sailed singlehanded in his Jeremy Rogers 1972 Contessa 26 named Constellation, to Sydney, Australia. He set off from Monnikendam, Holland on the 17th of September 2007 and arrived in Sydney in the early hours on 1 February 2010.
Canadian Stéphane Tremblay, sailed singlehanded & engineless from Sandy Hook, New Jersey to Spain via the Azores & back against the trade wind, aboard his J.J. Taylor Contessa 26 "Joshua III" on May 15, 2008.
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
monohull
Monohull
rightA monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another.-Fundamental concept:...
sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
, brought about when Jeremy Rogers
Jeremy Rogers
Jeremy Charles Rogers, MBE is a British boat builder and sailor, based in Lymington, Hampshire, in the United Kingdom....
, with a background in traditional wooden boatbuilding along with one of his Folkboat customers, David Sadler
David Sadler (yacht designer)
David Sadler is a British yacht designer who was responsible for a number of classic production yachts during the period from 1960 to 1980. His designs include the Contessa 26, the Contessa 32, the Sadler 25, the Sadler 29 and the Sadler 32.-References:...
, created a modified version of the same boat in GRP. Rigged as a masthead
Masthead
-Media:* the masthead , a list, usually found on the editorial page of a newspaper or other periodical, listing the publisher, editorial board, advertising rates, etc....
sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
, with a deep keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
and a hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
-mounted rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
, the Contessa 26 was launched in 1966 and early boats proved to be very successful racers, including long-distance events. Jeremy Rogers went on to produce the classic Contessa 32
Contessa 32
The Contessa 32 is a 9.75 metre fibreglass monohull sailboat, designed in 1970 by David Sadler of Great Britain in collaboration with Jeremy Rogers, the builder. Rigged as a masthead sloop, with a fin keel and a skeg-mounted rudder, the Contessa 32 is classified as a cruiser-racer...
.
Design evolution
The design characteristics of the Contessa 26 comes from the Nordic FolkboatNordic Folkboat
The Nordic Folkboat is a small sailboat, rigged as a sloop. The design of this boat was the result of a competition held by the Scandinavian Yacht Racing Union in 1942, who were hoping to create an easily sailed and low cost boat...
which was conceived by the Royal Gothenburg Sailing Club in 1939 as a new one design class for the masses which would provide more accommodation for the cruising family than the traditional Dragon Class. This idea effectively spawned a competition organised by the Swedish Sailing Association in 1940 that attracted 58 entries. Choosing one winner proved difficult so the final design was effectively decided by committee and Tord Sundén was commissioned to draw a boat based upon designs from Sweden's Jac Iversen and Denmark's Kned Olsen. Sometimes named the VW of the seas, the Folkboat concept was the same as Porsche's Volkswagen: to make a car/boat that was appealing across a wide section of society. In 1942 the Folkboat was as much a creation of the century of the common man as the bicycle. It's one of the most popular designs of all time and Loibner says there are more than 4,000 still around. With her graceful lines, acutely raked transom and easily handled rig, she proved almost as fast as a Dragon, and considerably more seaworthy.
Production history
The Contessa 26 was first manufactured by Jeremy RogersJeremy Rogers
Jeremy Charles Rogers, MBE is a British boat builder and sailor, based in Lymington, Hampshire, in the United Kingdom....
in Lymington, England in 1966. The Rogers boat works built approximately 350 Contessa 26s from 1966 to 1977, after which the moulds were sold to Chris Carrington of Maclan Marine, Lymington, who produced a few more during 1977/8. Another set of moulds was shipped to Canada, where they were built until 1990 under licence by J. J. Taylor & Sons Ltd. of Toronto. J.J. Taylors built another 400 or so boats, originally being sold as Contessa 26s, but after 1984 being called J J Taylor 26s - some of these later boats had a slightly modified deck moulding with an enlarged 'hump' by the hatchway to give greater headroom, and a slightly revised interior layout, although the hull always remained the same.
Specifications
- LOA: 7.77 m (25.5 ft)
- LWLWaterline lengthThe Waterline length is a measurement of ships and boats. The term denotes the length of the vessel at the point where it sits in the water. It excludes the total length of the boat, such as features that are out of the water...
: 6.40 m (21.0 ft) - BeamBeam (nautical)The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
: 2.29 m (7.5 ft) - DraftDraft (hull)The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
: 1.22 m (4.0 ft) - WindwardWindward and leewardWindward is the direction upwind from the point of reference. Leeward is the direction downwind from the point of reference. The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its lee side. If the vessel is heeling under the pressure of the wind, this will be the "lower side"...
sail area: 20.81 sq m ( sq ft) - DisplacementDisplacement (fluid)In fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its place. The volume of the fluid displaced can then be measured, as in the illustration, and from this the volume of the immersed object can be deduced .An object that sinks...
: 2450 kg (5400 lb) - Lead ballast: 1220 kg (2688 lb)
- Ballast Ratio: 49.7%
1970 Round Britain
Mike McMullen with Martin Read as crew took Binkie, the smallest entrant to 1st place in the Handicap Class in the Observer/Daily Express Round Britain Race after 27 days and 15 hours of racing.1972 Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR)
Richard Clifford completed in Shamaal, taking 38 days and 25th place out of 55 starters.1974 Round Britain
Richard Clifford with David Barrie as crew sailed Shamaal ll to 14th place out of 61 starters, after 25 days and 20 hours of racing.1976 Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race(OSTAR)
David Sutcliffe skippered 'St Anne of St Donat’s' to a 43rd place finish in a time of 44 days and 3 hours.In the same race Richard Clifford sailed Shammaal II, finishing in 33 days and 12 hours to take 18th place in the J Class , 30th Overall out of a starting field of 125 of which 73 finished.
2006 Round the Island
On corrected time, Jeremy Rogers' Contessa 26 Rosina of Beaulieu, took the Gold Roman Bowl trophy for an impressive third time, crewed by his sons Simon and KitNoteworthy voyages in the Contessa 26
Peter Hancock tells of his travels in Kylie in Sailing out of Silence and Sailing into Sunshine. Several transoceanic voyages have been completed, including two circumnavigations by Tania AebiTania Aebi
Tania Aebi is an American sailor. She completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26 foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21, thus making her the first American woman and the youngest person to sail around the world...
in Varuna, as described in her book Maiden Voyage, and Brian Caldwell who in 1995 aged 19, began a journey of 27000 miles (43,452.2 km) to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. These latter two being in the J. J. Taylor built Canadian version of the 26.
Norwegian couple Henrik Nor-Hansen and Nina Kristin Nilsen are currently undertaking a circumnavigation in their Jeremy Rogers 1976 Contessa, Bika having set-off from Norway in Spring 2005.
Australian Nick Jaffe sailed singlehanded in his Jeremy Rogers 1972 Contessa 26 named Constellation, to Sydney, Australia. He set off from Monnikendam, Holland on the 17th of September 2007 and arrived in Sydney in the early hours on 1 February 2010.
Canadian Stéphane Tremblay, sailed singlehanded & engineless from Sandy Hook, New Jersey to Spain via the Azores & back against the trade wind, aboard his J.J. Taylor Contessa 26 "Joshua III" on May 15, 2008.