A great majority of the members of the C&C Yachts staff and associates during the roughly 20 year run of the Canadian company that rose to be the largest sailboat producer in North America, attended the two-day C&C Yachts Reunion and Conference held at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Hamilton Ontario, April 14 and 15, 2012.

The organizing group, led by Rob Mazza and coordinated through the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston Ontario, held a smoothly organized and well attended event. Starting with a Saturday evening Reunion reception for former members of the C&C Yachts staff, the conference rolled out on the second day with a series of 4 panel discussions, breakfast and lunch that were open to any interested members of the public.

The ballroom at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club was full throughout the day. The panel discussions looked back to the heyday of C&C Yachts previously located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, yet the ideas and information were as fresh as today. Both the challenges to success that eventually ended the company, and the principles that had originally guided the company to global success through the 70s and 80s, remain highly relevant. Any Canadian boatbuilder who missed the event, missed a rare opportunity for precious knowledge.

Perhaps the most striking feature was the tremendous legacy of talented alumni who in most cases, got their start at C&C Yachts, who remain active in the marine industry in North America and who have gone on to remarkable personal achievements. Clearly, C&C Yachts was an incubator for brilliant design and construction.

More than one person remarked that the designs and construction may have been too good; the vast majority of the company’s production remains on the water even today.

Boating Industry Canada and Canadian Yachting magazine were there throughout the conference and videotaped the sessions for the Marine Museum in Kingston. We will be featuring editorial on this outstanding event in the next issue of our magazines.