CS 30

A popular New edition to the CS Family of racer/ cruisers.

By Carol Nickle and Bryan Gooderham

The CS 30, the lat­est addition to the CS family of yachts, made its debut early this year and is fast making friends. The company’s Brampton plant has been busy filling the 80 odd orders it began taking at the Toronto International Boat Show last Jan­uary. In fact, we are told that a major expansion of the CS plant on 50 acres at highways 10 and 401 is in the planning stages.

There are good reasons for the popularity of the 30. CS Yachts has produced another well-designed and built boat with the quality the yachting public likes at a very affordable price. Filling the gap between the CS 27, now discontinued, and the CS 33, the CS 30 is aimed at the market’s most rapidly growing size range.

The CS 30 was designed by Tony Castro, best known for the Irish Admiral’s Cup yacht Justine, and it definitely has some high performance characteristics. The boat is fairly light at 8,000 pounds, but has lots of weight down low; the 43 percent ballast ratio keel has a draft of five feet, six inches. This is balanced by a tall double-spreader masthead rig with a good deal of sail area. The CS 30 has a fine entry and a very flat underbody, but is not as beamy or as full all the way aft as some boats designed to exploit the IOR rule. According to Castro, “all these characteristics will produce a fast, well-balanced performance hull with docile behavior and gentle motion through the water,” which should satisfy both the cruising family and the club racer. A CS 30 named Magic has been doing well in the MORC division in Toronto area racing, and CS Yachts is gratified with the design’s performance. Nevertheless, CS spokesmen are quick to point out that this has been achieved without sacrificing cruising comfort or ease of handling.

From the exterior, the CS 30 bears a striking resemblance to the CS 33 and 36. To accommodate interior volume, its topsides and cabin trunk are fairly high. This lends a certain chunkiness to its appearance, especially if the yacht is fitted with three small, optional, opening ports along the cabinsides rather than the more sleekly designed (if less practical) fixed windows. The exterior is as maintenance-free as pos­sible, with no exposed wood except for the companionway hatchboards.

We were particularly impressed with the carefully executed detail at the bow of the CS 30. The sturdy, well mounted bow pulpit has an anchor roller built into the stem fitting with, for a change, suitable lateral support and a stout pin to keep the anchor rode from jumping the side of the roller. The self draining anchor well has a positive latch on its hatch cover with a flared opening so that the 110-volt power cable can lead to its connection inside the anchor well much more sensible than the usual location on the side of the cockpit wall. Two channels also lead aft so that the ends of bowlines can be stowed neatly in the anchor well. The final touch is that mooring cleats for bowlines are discreetly placed close to the toerail on each side, rather than using a single cleat on the centerline, so that the bowline won’t foul the hatch for the anchor well.

Stanchion bases are bolted into the aluminum toerail, which surrounds the deck and forms an integral part of the hull deck joint. The cockpit is roomy and the seats, with angled backs, are comfortable. A standard feature is the swim ladder, which stows neatly and can be used without acrobatics. Lifting up the helmsman’s seat reveals a handy stowage locker that contains the propane tank but also has room for lines and other gear. Under the port cockpit seat is a large locker, with a built-in rack for the hatch boards and bilge pump handle, and lots of room for sailbags, fenders and so on. Wheel steering is standard, along with a binnacle compass and a substantial looking guard.

We sailed the CS 30 on a sparkling summer day with northerly breezes in the 12- to 18-knot range and virtually flat water. In such ideal conditions sailing any boat would have been great fun and the CS 30 easily lived up to the day. Our demonstration model was equipped with a roller furling genoa that made life easy for a crew of two. The boat responded positively to the helm, and we were impressed with the excellent visibility from the helmsman’s position. With one reef in the mainsail we found the CS 30 remarkably well balanced.

With the wheel braked it happily sailed to windward on its own, even as the wind gusted in strength. We did notice that the CS 30 was modestly tender, heeling fairly easily in spite of our shortened sail. However, once it reached a rail-in-the-water position, the degree of heel seemed to stabilize. The boat felt spritely and fast, and accelerated well as we reached off.

Sail trim was handled comfortably with a cabintop mainsheet and traveler system that was particularly easy to use, even under load. Genoa winches are placed to be handy to the helmsman, which may be a good thing since we found grinding the genoa out of the tacks much harder work than dealing with the mainsail. If your crew is not athletic, we recommend at least the optional larger genoa winches. Halyards are led aft to the cockpit, and both the halyard/mainsheet winches on the cabintop and the jibsheet winches are not only good-quality self tailers, but standard features to boot.

At first the interior of the CS 30 felt crowded; in a while it grew on us and felt much more comfortable. The initial reaction may have been caused by the headliner’s longitudinal wood strips, which, although attractive and functional, made it seem busy for a 30-foot boat, and by the dark upholstery on the model we sailed. The CS 30 incorporates many features in the limited space available, some more successfully than others.
Aft on the starboard side is a large double quarterberth that extends under the cockpit floor. Immediately forward of the double berth, facing outboard, is a small chart table with a hinged stool. This nav station is designed to permit access to the quarterberth, but we couldn’t help feeling it doesn’t quite work. Granted, it’s a great advantage to have a chart table at all on a boat this size.

The galley to port has many tried and true CS features: a sensibly located deep sink, good high fiddles, a two­ burner propane stove with oven and a roomy icebox with racks. The stove has a stainless steel safety bar in front. Gal­ley stowage is generous, and lockers are equipped with suitable shelves and dividers for items of different sizes. Drawers and lockers all have positive latches and there is a garbage bin. The lid of the dry locker can be shifted to the counter to double as a cutting board, and the two halves of the icebox cover are made of the same material. CS Yachts informs us that this heavy material is used to ensure a good seal around the icebox opening, but we thought it made the lid awkwardly heavy.

The main saloon area has a short set­tee to port and a longer one to star­board, with a folding table mounted on the bulkhead. Although it’s a little complicated, the table works easily enough, and when fully opened would comfortably serve six. Behind each settee is a deep fiddled storage shelf with a locker on each side, one for bottle stowage and the other with shelves. The port settee has more stowage behind the backrest and in lockers under the seat cushion. At present, these lockers are directly exposed to open space in the bilge. CS Yachts should provide bins as they do on their other yachts. Failing that, we recommend the owner install them, otherwise the locker contents will tumble around with the bilge water. Although short, the port settee could be used as a child’s bunk. The settee to starboard pulls out into a double, but we found this to be a cumbersome operation involving the shifting of an ex­traordinary amount of upholstery.

Forward of the mast the elegant cedar lined hanging locker lies to port and the completely self-contained head is located to starboard. CS Yachts always does a fine job of design and execution of the head, and the CS 30 is no excep­tion. A single-molded unit forms most of the first-rate head compartment and the counter areas. There are lots of lockers for stowage, good hand grips, a large mirror and a small opening hatch.
The V berth forward features a nice drawer and locker unit, but we judged it uncomfortably small for two adults. One adult or two children could be rea­sonably accommodated.

Throughout the CS 30 ventilation has been well-attended. There are three opening hatches in addition to the main companionway. Optional features include opening ports in the main cabin and an opening port (which we recommend) from the aft berth through the side of the cockpit wall.
Mechanical systems on the yacht appeared to be sound. Batteries are in­stalled under the sink and the electrical panel is fitted with breakers. The engine is located underneath the compan­ionway steps, which can easily be re­moved for totally unrestricted access to the engine. The engine has a small sump area and the engine cover is bal­sa-cored and lined with sound insula­tion-two unusual quality features.

One of the most attractive aspects of the CS 30 is the extensive list of stan­dard equipment included in a surpris­ingly reasonable base price of $51,900. Notable among these are pressure wa­ter, shore power, double lifelines, a mainsail and a working jib. CS Yachts has produced another quality yacht at a highly competitive price. While there are a few minor details to be refined, the CS 30 should prove a popular addition to the CS family.

Originally Published in Canadian Yachting’s Nov 1984 issue.

The galley has many tried and true CS features. A sensibly located deep sink, good high fiddles, a two burner propane stove with oven and a roomy icebox with racks.

The Interior of the CS 30, which at first felt crowed, grew on our reviewers.

Specifications:
Sail
LOA………………….30ft
Waterline……………25ft 5in
Beam………………..10ft 3 in
Displacement………8,000lbs
Ballast……………….3,440lbs
Draft………………….5ft 6in
Shallow Draft……….4ft 3in

Tanks:

Water…………………25 gal
Fuel…………………..18 gal
Holding……………….22 gal
Engine……….Volvo Diesel 2-cyl. 15hp
Sail Area……………..463 ft²
(Main + 100%)

Base Price……………$51,900 (In 1984)

Carol Nickle is an independent financial consultant. Bryan Gooderham is the owner of Bryan Gooderman Yacht Services and a member of the crew of The Sorc and Admiral’s Cup Racer Amazing Cup.