was the 26 jc a good design??

[nickyp]

i've been wondering about this hull for a while.
i will state that i am not interested in one, and don't find them particularly good looking, like the other jc's (no disrespect to jc owners at all, my good friend has one and i fish it quite alot, and its a champ, but i don't like the 'clipper bow')
anyway, i'm getting off course. what i'm wondering is: the jc 31 is extremely popular, and this design will probably continue to be for quite a while. 35 is popular too. popular enough for eastern to carry on building it. what happened to the 26? was is a bad design? did the mold get ruined? there's one that comes up in my boatyard. the owners live on a little island, and use it as an suv, have done for ages. its stable, they beat it up, its built like a brick shithouse.
long story short: what happened to this hull?

 

[captainlarry84]

JC

I little JC History The 31 JC was the only hull in the JC line that was designed and introduced by renowned navigate builder Royal Lowell. Once the design caught on with great promise, Jack Cadario took it to his own design. The 35 JC was designed & built by Cardio. He stretched and redid the 31 hull by spitting the bow and stretching the hull. If you look at a 35 JC carefully you will see how the bow flairs and it then goes straight up. Its bottom therefore was mostly that of a 31'. The 26 on the other hand was easier. Jack just made the 26 a smaller 31. So in hind sight if Royal Lowell was to have made a 26 it would have mirrored the 31. On the other hand the 35 would not have been the same design if Royal Lowell was involved. The clipper bow is the beauty of the JC. Clipper bows and hard chines go hand and hand. Some pictures of the 31 & 35 so you can be the judge.
#1 at true 31 JC #2 an original 35 JC

 

[MASTERENEGADE]

Nickyp: I represent that comment haha its all good, i take no offense to being a 35jc owner. Just had to throw a lil ball breaking comment in there.

Everyone has their own opinion on beauty of a boat.

 

[Raider Ronnie]

26 or 27 JC ?
I guy that worked with us up in Boston Harbor had one but I'm pretty sure it was a 27.
I think it was a mid to late 1980s ?

 

[Frank]

If I remember correctly the 26' was a true JC. The 27' was really an Eastern with a JC sticker slapped on it.

 

[Frank]

Lobster style pictured in this thread:

**SOLD** JC Downeast 26'x10.5' 1987, Yanmar power-mint**SOLD!!!!***** - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

Also came in center console and bass boat models.

 

[MASTERENEGADE]

They called it a 27jc. Privateer bought the mold at one point and made a few of these not many at all. The eastern 27 is a differant hull all in all.

They were great lil boats just that when they went with a bigger motor(before yanmars time) the engine boxes took up a hell of alot of room in the wheelhouse.

 

[Red Sprague]

Confusing. This ad calls the 27' Eastern a JC:

2004 Eastern Boats / Seacoast JC Casco Bay - 27' new used boats for sale dealers reviews boat classifieds

 

[Raider Ronnie]

Lobster style pictured in this thread:

**SOLD** JC Downeast 26'x10.5' 1987, Yanmar power-mint**SOLD!!!!***** - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

Also came in center console and bass boat models.

That's the boat there.
Guy's name is Dave.
He sold that and works/runs boats for Massbayguides now.
He's also a marine mechanic @ Marina bay in Quincy Ma.
The boat was an 80s JC.
Not Eastern or Privateer.
It had mounts still on the boat from when it had a tower.
Dave did some glass modifications to the keel and made it go better in certain seas and I think he picked up a few kts.

 

[MASTERENEGADE]

Privateers built the 27 for only a couple of years in the very early 90's.

That 27 eastern advertised there is not the jc mold. Totally different animal.

 

[26JC]

She's all mine now. She's my first downeaster so I don't have much to compare her to. Very nice cruise up to 17 knts but requires more attention to keep her going straight above that. I've been out in some pretty snotty stuff and the boat handles great especially if you back off a little. I heard they were terrible in a following sea but I never really experienced that. Mine is a real working boat. No frills inside. I'm getting ready to replace the forward windows with larger fixed ones. There's a large space between the two now that really blocks your visibility. I'm having a blast with her. Keep her over by the aquarium at India Wharf. Only one I've ever seen.

 

[Frank]

Love the lines of that hull. Best of luck to you. So I guess it's a 26 footer or else your name would be 27JC.

 

[MASTERENEGADE]

Hahah damn numbers lol good luck with her and congratulations her.

Welcome to the jc family

 

[captainlarry84]

Correct

If I remember correctly the 26' was a true JC. The 27' was really an Eastern with a JC sticker slapped on it.

The 27 Eastern was by no means the 26 JC DE that you have. They sold them with O/B power. The 27 Eastern is also a fine vessel, however she is not a DE boat. Judge also produces the 27 Eastern, which he modified my adding more beam, also a nice O/B powered boat.
Good luck with your 26 JC Be it a 26 31 or 35 they were all great boats. Some were build wrong and negative comments resulted. You need to keep a JC low profile. The lobster side JCs with motor boxes ran the best, followed by the Casco Bay line of JCs which gave much more creature comforts , no motor box but a higher profile. Although JC is no longer around there hull design and molds are still being used by Eastern & Judge yachts, so that has to tell you a lot about the legendary design.

 

[Frank]

The 27 Eastern was by no means the 26 JC DE that you have.

I agree. My guess is that Eastern only purchased the molds for the 31 and 35 JC Boats and then for a time period started calling their 27 a JC Casco Bay to fill that size slot. I distinctly remember this because it really bugged me that the JC name was used on a non downeaster hull. Like MASTERENEGADE stated the true 26' JC could be owned by Privateer?

 

[nickyp]

ok, getting down to the nitty gritty: what has become of this mold, and why is it the only one in the lineup to disappear?

 

[[email protected]]

ok, getting down to the nitty gritty: what has become of this mold, and why is it the only one in the lineup to disappear?

Actually it isn't the only JC to disappear. Anyone remember the 40 in that lineup? It's mold went to South America or someplace like that. I grew up on Long Island and saw a 26 in Montauk and really liked it. 15 years later I was living in MD. and working for Cummins. Around 2002 I lined up 6 used boats in New England one of which was a 1988 JC 26 Islander. I stopped by the Mass. boat show which was winding down, and at the Eastern booth was Jack himself. I don't know what he was like to work for, but to me he couldn't have been nicer, and I was sad to hear he had passed away not too long after that. He bought me a beer and I asked him about building a 26. He spent over an hour trying to talk me out of it and why he considered that model a failure. All he and Royal did was scale down the 31 10% but it just didn't work. He said he built hundreds of 31's all of which he considered a success but only a few 26's and didn't like the way they performed. I needed something I could tow twice a year behind my E-350 and a 31 was just too big and I asked about putting a 370 B in one and he said the 31 would run the same or better than the 26. I asked about having a new hull built and he told me that the mold was near my home at Judge's in Denton MD. but was altered with no keel and set up for outboards as he didn't like they way they ran either(which is true I've seen it). Well, I went and bought that used 26 anyway (the old Natemare out of Barnstable) which was in rough shape and spent years gutting it, replacing everything except the rudder and repowered it with a 370 B. This is her 7th season,almost 1000 hours and I'm happy with it. I tried to move as much weight aft as I could to reduce wandering and she runs easy enough that my girlfriend will use it without me. Top speed 25 MPH, exactly what Jack predicted.

 

[MASTERENEGADE]

I havent spoken with Warren Wilkerson(founder of privateer) in a while. Gilbert now owns Privateer. I'll try to give Warren a call and see if he knows what happened to the 26jc hull.

 

[26JC]

Actually it isn't the only JC to disappear. Anyone remember the 40 in that lineup? It's mold went to South America or someplace like that. I grew up on Long Island and saw a 26 in Montauk and really liked it. 15 years later I was living in MD. and working for Cummins. Around 2002 I lined up 6 used boats in New England one of which was a 1988 JC 26 Islander. I stopped by the Mass. boat show which was winding down, and at the Eastern booth was Jack himself. I don't know what he was like to work for, but to me he couldn't have been nicer, and I was sad to hear he had passed away not too long after that. He bought me a beer and I asked him about building a 26. He spent over an hour trying to talk me out of it and why he considered that model a failure. All he and Royal did was scale down the 31 10% but it just didn't work. He said he built hundreds of 31's all of which he considered a success but only a few 26's and didn't like the way they performed. I needed something I could tow twice a year behind my E-350 and a 31 was just too big and I asked about putting a 370 B in one and he said the 31 would run the same or better than the 26. I asked about having a new hull built and he told me that the mold was near my home at Judge's in Denton MD. but was altered with no keel and set up for outboards as he didn't like they way they ran either(which is true I've seen it). Well, I went and bought that used 26 anyway (the old Natemare out of Barnstable) which was in rough shape and spent years gutting it, replacing everything except the rudder and repowered it with a 370 B. This is her 7th season,almost 1000 hours and I'm happy with it. I tried to move as much weight aft to reduce wandering and she runs easy enough that my girlfriend will use it without me. Top speed 25 MPH, exactly what Jack predicted.

Can you post some pictures of your 26. Would love to see them. Thanks.

 

[Bill_N]

Love the lines on those JC's !!