Cape Cod 896 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

What gives the Cape Cod her character is the marriage of classic silhouette and contemporary composite engineering. The hull is solid fiberglass laid in polyester resin with a vinylester skin, while the deck is cored with Airex foam and bonded to the hull with epoxy anchor. That foam-cored deck keeps weight out of the topsides, and the epoxy bond line is a clean, modern way to marry deck to hull. Stability comes from a heavy cast-iron centerboard supplemented by ballast low in the bilge, a combination that the builder uses to keep her upright without a deep fixed keel. The high-aspect rudder is a simple plate that kicks up on impact, which suits a boat meant to wander into shallow anchorages. Above the engineering, the finish quality is superb, with lots of fine wood trim that earns the cutter homage its lines promise.

Rig and Sail Handling

A black anodized Seldén aluminum rig comes standard, with a carbon rig available as an option for those chasing weight aloft anchor. The long retractable bowsprit is the key to her offwind personality: a modern gennaker or A-sail sets from it easily, and a high-cut yankee can be flown cutter-style against the roller-furling headsail tacked to the stem. The working cockpit sits aft, behind a pair of self-tailing Harken 35 winches set well inboard, and a solo helmsperson can manage both lines and tiller without help. That layout is what lets one person actually use the boat's range of sail plans.

Performance Under Sail

Writing in SAIL, test sailors found her remarkably closewinded in 4 to 6 knots of breeze, pinching as high as 30 degrees apparent before properly powering up at a 38-degree angle anchor. Bearing away to 60 degrees and unrolling the gennaker, the same testers had no trouble sailing at windspeed or better. Throughout the test the helm felt lively and responsive, a quality that matters more on a daysailer than raw speed. With a displacement of 3,197lb and a ballast ratio of 32, she is light enough to feel quick yet stable enough to inspire confidence.

Accommodations and Cockpit

The forward end of the cockpit holds a long U-shaped settee with seating for six, and a folding teak table drops level with a low-slung engine box protecting the small inboard anchor. Forward of the mast, a large deck hatch opens onto a low interior with a pair of berths and a chemical toilet — enough for an occasional overnighter but clearly secondary to the dayboat brief. A locker houses a swim ladder that hooks to the gunwale and a telephone-style freshwater showerhead for rinsing off after a swim. The cockpit is where the boat lives, and the settee-and-table arrangement makes six people comfortable without intruding on the working cockpit aft.

Refits and Ownership

Owners taking delivery have a straightforward canvas of choices rather than problems to fix. The optional carbon rig is the principal factory upgrade, and the bowsprit already supports both gennaker and cutter-style yankee setups without aftermarket modification. The 14hp diesel behind its low engine box is a small inboard suited to harbor maneuvering and battery charging rather than long passages. The Airex-cored deck and epoxy hull bond are modern construction that asks for normal fiberglass vigilance, not special systems.

The Verdict

The Cape Cod 896 succeeds as a daysailer because she commits to the brief: a shallow-draft centerboard hull, a responsive helm, and a social cockpit wrapped in genuine wood trim and a cutter's looks. She is not a cruiser with berths bolted on, but a true dayboat that can occasionally sleep two.

Pros