The C&C 37/40 is a Canadian LOA fibreglass monohull sailing yacht, designed in 1988 by Robert W. Ball of Cuthbertson & Cassian (C&C Designs) as a replacement for the earlier C&C 37 dating from 1981. The C&C 37/40 is a recreational keelboat of moderate displacement, intended as a cruiser/racer or oceangoing racer (depending on model). The yachts have a masthead sloop rig, with a fin keel and an internally-mounted spade-type rudder. Over 110 of the 37/40 type were built before the Canadian plant closed in 1994. The design is no longer produced.
There are three basic models of the C&C 37/40: the Custom 37/40 R "racing" model, the 37/40+, and the 37/40 XL (Extra Light). The boats were essentially semi-custom with the factory offering different mast, rigging, and keel options. Other factory options included standard or lighter weight racing laminate layups for the hull, rudder, and deck, as well as different companionway, cockpit and transom configurations (open or closed), and various interior options and modifications.
Production history
C&C Yachts was a builder of high-performance fiberglass monohull sailboats with production facilities in Canada, Germany, and the United States. C&C designed and constructed a full range of production line cruiser-racer boats, as well as custom one-off and short production run racing and cruising boats. C&C boats ranged in size from as small as to as large as . C&C also produced a line of bluewater cruising boats in the to range under its Landfall brand. In addition, C&C designed sailboats for production by a number of other manufacturers such as CS Yachts, Mirage Yachts, Northern Yachts, Ontario Yachts, Paceship Yachts, and Tanzer Industries.
C&C was founded in 1969 as a public company in Canada, which resulted from a joint venture among several predecessor companies and design teams. At the peak of its market success, the company supplied 50% of the Canadian market and 20% of the US market. The company name, C&C Yachts, came from the names of two of the founding designers, George Cuthbertson and George Cassian.
Along with the C&C 30 and C&C 34+, the C&C 37/40 made up a group of new C&C designed and produced aft cabin boats that went into production in the late 1980s under the guidance of Robert Ball, the chief in-house designer at C&C Yachts from 1973 to 1991. First introduced in 1988, this second version of the C&C 37 is a completely different design from Robert Ball's earlier C&C 37 dating from 1981. Initially intended as an updated replacement for the earlier 37, the 37/40 gradually stretched out during the design process until its final overall length was almost . In an interview Robert Ball said they started out drawing a nice 37-foot interior, then just stretched the ends to give the boat more grace and style.
The last boats in the 37/40 series came off the production line in 1994, just before a devastating fire destroyed the C&C factory in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Name and marketing
All construction drawings from the design phase refer to this boat as the "new 37+". It was first offered as the C&C 37R and C&C 37+ but soon was marketed as the C&C 37/40R and C&C 37/40+ due to its actual LOA of . Early purchasers of the new boat began to request a mix of the standard features of both the "R" and the "+" combined in their orders so an "XL" (Extra Light) version was developed to meet this demand. On the design of the 37/40 Robert Ball said:
I really love that design, and feel it really was/is the culmination of all the past experience, and designs that I did . . . .
The fun part was that the goal of the basic design was ‘A Fast Boat’ without any distortions for handicap rules . . The rule being used mostly was PHRF and keeping the name at 37 when the boat was actually longer than that was a tongue-in-cheek effort to fool the handicappers when it was introduced . . . After the boat was sailing and presumably sailing better than a 37 footer, they would change the rating – but by then we would have at least created ‘notice’ in the marketplace – HA . . . . . In truth I did have a 37.49 foot design ready, but pleaded with marketing to lengthen it. Indeed it was the longest waterline 37 footer, the most interior 37 footer, maybe the fastest 37 footer . . . . BUT it was also the most expensive 37 footer . . . . The marketing guys pushed for the name change(s) . . .
Everyone that I have run into – love the boat . . . .