C&C Mega 30 OD Buyer's Guide
The C&C Mega 30 OD is a 1977–1980 trailerable one-design racer with a retractable bulb keel, built in limited numbers at C&C plants in Canada, the United States, and Germany. For a buyer scanning the used market, the appeal is a 30-foot boat with standing headroom that tows legally under the 8-foot beam limit and sets up for club racing straight off the trailer. The fixed-keel Mega 30 FK exists as a rarer alternative, but the OD is the original and the one to know.
Layouts on the Used Market
The OD carries a lifting 2,250-pound bulb keel that draws 21 inches retracted and 5 feet down, with an intermediate shoal setting around 3-foot 6-inch for gunkholing. Inside, the bubble-top cabin gives more than 6 feet of headroom under the trunk, with a keel trunk and I-beam dividing the saloon and four berths over 6 feet long; the forepeak is for a portable toilet and storage, and an original OD has no dining table. The cockpit is roomy with a single lazarette housing a large fuel tank, a manual bilge pump operable from the helm, and a swing-up seat over the motor well. A port-side transom opening drains the cockpit quickly while a high bridge deck keeps the cabin dry.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The keel retraction is the headline system: a manual jackscrew was standard, but most boats upgraded to the optional electric screw, and the lifting-keel rollers or slides are a routine replacement item. Power comes from a small outboard in the stern cutout, with a saildrive offered as an option on some boats. Rigging centers on the fractional sloop with deck-stepped tabernacle mast, self-tacking jib track, and split adjustable backstay; a transom-hung swing-up rudder and double Dyneema lifelines with stainless pulpits round out the deck safety items a buyer should confirm are intact.
What to Inspect
Used boats show their age in the balsa-cored deck and the joint where hull meets deck. Old balsa decks may have soft spots, and the outward-turning flange sealed with pop rivets and vinyl strip can leak, so check for staining below. The dark-tinted wraparound windows are prone to leaking or cracking, and owners report the factory fiberglass headliner degrades with age. The retracted keel is awkward to bottom-paint, and the rudder will rise with a slack pull-down line, causing very heavy helm—verify the line and fittings. The bubble also obstructs mainsail furling, a minor but real annoyance.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The Mega 30 OD was built in limited numbers and is not a common brokerage fixture; the FK is rarer still. When one appears, prioritize keel-frame service history, deck softness, and window seals.
- Confirm electric jackscrew and recent keel rollers/slides
- Sound the balsa deck and check hull-to-deck joint for leaks
- Test rudder pull-down line tension and window seals
- Verify tabernacle mast and trailer towing setup complete