Design and Construction
The 26 uses balsa-cored laminate construction for both hull and deck, a sandwich technique that keeps weight down while preserving panel stiffness across the 24 foot 4 inch waterline. Hinterhoeller built the class from 1981, and the 26 sits early in Mark Ellis's nine-model Nonsuch lineage that began with the 30 in 1978. The keel is a 4 foot 6 inch fin with a 3 foot 9 inch shallow-draft option, paired with a large freestanding rudder that test sailors found easy to control in close quarters. With a 49 foot masthead above the waterline carrying 420 square feet of sail, the boat's cat rig places the spar right in the bow, separated from the living space by a bulkhead rather than intruding into the cabin.
Rig and Handling
There is no headsail to tack and no sheets crossing the cockpit, which makes the boat unusually forgiving for a crew of non-sailors and trivial to singlehand. The sail collects on a track the way any ordinary mainsail does, and the Nonsuch does not use a sleeve sail; a wishbone boom is positioned by adjusting control lines rather than wrestling a conventional boom end. Owners report that lazy jacks hold the mainsail so they never need leave the cockpit to stow it, and the freestanding mast absorbs gusts more than a traditional stayed rig, softening heel. Canadian Boating's testers tacked easily within 80 degrees, and because the boat takes a different kind of handling going to weather than a sloop, the learning curve is in trim rather than in muscle.
Accommodations
Because the mast lives forward of the cabin, there is no need to sacrifice the bow to a dark, cramped V-berth; instead a light panel slides up and locks to close the forward cabin off from the aft end for sleeping. The head is very large for a 26-foot hull, placed at the widest part of the beam with maximum headroom and situated opposite the galley, and it allows an optional pressurized hot water system. Two 30-gallon water tanks give 60 gallons total, a generous allowance for a boat this size and a sign the layout was meant for real cruising rather than daysailing.
Ownership Notes
The 26 was offered in two interior generations known as Classic and Ultra, and writing in Sailing for the Gentle Sailor one longtime owner described a 1988 Nonsuch 26 Ultra named Sailavee purchased out of Niagara-on-the-Lake — coincidentally the former home of Hinterhoeller — and noted the Ultra matched a CS 30's general scale and use, apart from lacking the aft berth. A propane heater was fired up during Canadian Boating's time aboard, speaking to the boat's cold-weather Lake Ontario brief.
The Verdict
The Nonsuch 26 is a purpose-built cruising catboat that trades the athleticism of a sloop for simplicity and a genuinely roomy interior on a 26-foot footprint. Her unstayed rig and clear cockpit make her a rare boat that non-sailors can handle, while the balsa-cored construction and beamy hull give her more living space than her length suggests. The shallow-draft option and easy tacking keep her manageable in confined water, though the cat rig demands its own trim intuition upwind.
Pros
- Unstayed cat rig with no headsail or cockpit sheets — easily singlehanded
- Forward mast and bulkhead free the bow for a bright, panel-enclosed sleeping space
- Oversized head at the beam with optional hot water; 60 gallons water capacity
- Balsa-cored construction with shallow-draft option and easy 80-degree tacking
Cons
- Cat rig handles differently to weather than a sloop — a distinct learning curve
- Only 103 built; Ultra generation lacks the aft berth of comparable sloops
