The larger Nonsuch 30 had already established the marque’s approach to catboats. The 26 distilled the same single-sail philosophy into a trailer-sized coastal cruiser, combining simple handling with an unusually open interior.
Design and Construction
The Nonsuch 26 has a beamy, 10-foot-6-inch hull. It displaces 8,500 pounds and carries 2,750 pounds of ballast. Standard draft is 4 feet 6 inches, while a 3-foot-9-inch shallow-draft option was also available.
Hinterhoeller used the same balsa-cored laminate construction technique found across the yard’s late-1970s and 1980s output. The boat stands as the standard-bearer of the Nonsuch cat line.
The mast steps in the bow and is separated from the living space by a bulkhead. This arrangement leaves the cabin trunk free of the usual foretriangle clutter. There’s no standard V-berth forward. Instead, the forward area remains open and bright, and a light panel slides up and locks in place at the aft end of the cabin to close it off for sleeping. The layout avoids the dark, cramped forward berth found in many 26-footers.
Rig and Handling
The defining feature is the unstayed cat rig: a freestanding, 49-foot mast carrying 420 square feet of sail on a wishbone boom, with no headsail. Rather than using a sleeve sail, the sail runs on a track like an ordinary mainsail. Lazy jacks gather it neatly, allowing the owner to douse sail without leaving the cockpit.
With no headsail to tack and no sheets crossing the cockpit, the Nonsuch 26 is easy to singlehand and leaves the cockpit clear for a boatful of non-sailors. Sailing to weather requires different handling from a sloop, but test sailors found that the boat tacks easily within 80 degrees. They also found the large, freestanding rudder easy to control. Owners report that the unstayed mast absorbs gusts more than traditional stayed masts, further easing concerns about heel.
Accommodations
The Ultra’s open-plan interior gives this 26-footer a sense of space that few competitors match. When privacy or a separate sleeping area is needed, the sliding panel closes off the open forward section.
The head sits opposite the galley at the widest part of the beam, where it benefits from maximum headroom. It’s very large for a 26-foot hull and feels like a genuinely usable compartment rather than a token enclosure. An optional pressurized hot-water system was available.
Water capacity is 2 x 30 US gallons, generous for the boat’s length and sufficient to support the opposite galley and the head’s optional hot water. A propane heater was fired up during period testing, further underlining the boat’s role as a comfort-oriented coastal cruiser.
Verdict
The Nonsuch 26 Ultra is a purpose-built pleasure cruiser that reduces the work of a traditional sloop rig to one manageable sail. Ellis’s unstayed catboat concept, executed by Hinterhoeller with balsa-cored laminate construction and a bow-mounted mast separated from the cabin by a bulkhead, produces a roomy, stable, and forgiving 26-footer. Its 103-boat production run and Lake Ontario and Long Island Sound following speak to its appeal.
Pros
- Balsa-cored laminate construction from a dedicated catboat builder
- Freestanding rig with wishbone boom and no headsail, making the boat easy to singlehand
- Unusually large head at the widest part of the beam, with optional hot water
- Open forward cabin with a sliding privacy panel instead of a cramped V-berth
- 420 square feet of sail on a 49-foot mast, with easy 80-degree tacks
Cons
- Both standard- and shallow-draft versions may still be limited in some thin water
- The lack of a headsail requires different weather handling from what sloop sailors expect
