Nonsuch 30

The Nonsuch 30 is a 30 ft (9.24 m) fiberglass cruising catboat designed by Mark Ellis and built by Hinterhoeller Yachts of St. Catharines, Ontario from 1978 to 1994. Its single sail on an unstayed mast with a wishbone boom, wide beam and fin-keel/spade-rudder underbody made it one of the easiest cruisers of its size to sail short-handed, and it became the most-built boat in the Nonsuch line with 522 hulls.

The design was commissioned by Gordon Fisher, a Royal Canadian Yacht Club past commodore, who wanted a boat that was easy to sail single-handed, had ample accommodation and was of manageable length; a syndicate of six RCYC members placed the first orders. Mark Ellis adapted the 1930s Ljungström free-standing rig with a windsurfer-style wishbone, and George Hinterhoeller — initially doubtful that a catboat would sell — built the first hull in 1978. The 30 was the first of the line and was scaled up and down to produce the 22, 26, 33, 36 and 40; Hinterhoeller built 975 Nonsuches in all before closing in January 1996. An upgraded 30 with a new interior and carbon-fibre mast and wishbone, the Nonsuch 30 Nova (and the related 324), appeared late in the run.

Hull and deck are balsa-cored sandwiches joined by a through-bolted, butyl-bedded flange under an aluminium toerail; the external lead fin keel is bolted through floors of unidirectional roving, and the semi-balanced spade rudder is free-standing. Heavy bulkheading in the forward six feet absorbs the loads of the unstayed aluminium mast, which sits in a hexagonal step. The single 540 sq ft sail is trimmed with the sheet and a "choker" that controls the wishbone; the flexible mast spills wind in gusts so weather helm stays light, but the boat points less well than a sloop and gybes need care. The Classic hulls up to about #125 had a 23 hp Volvo MD11C saildrive; later boats a 27 hp Westerbeke on a shaft.

The Classic (1978 on) and the Ultra (offered from 1983) share the same hull, rig and deck moulding but have different interiors: the Classic has opposing settees forward and quarter berths aft, while the Ultra has a private forward stateroom with an offset double, an aft saloon with dinette and a proper nav station. Buyers search for them by those names, prices differ, and the association lists them separately, so the catalog models them as two generations under this parent rather than as an interior option (the guide itself uses this pair as its example). The Nova, a late carbon-rigged upgrade, is described in history rather than modelled separately because so few were built and the same hull was carried into the Nonsuch 324.

Sources disagree on the total built: sailboatdata-derived figures (and Wikipedia's Nonsuch 30 article) say 1,080, but the line-wide total of 975 boats given by the association, Wave Train and Wikipedia's Nonsuch article breaks down as 522 Nonsuch 30s, so 1,080 cannot be right and 522 is used. Displacement is quoted as 10,500 lb by sailboatdata and 11,500 lb by every magazine review; the catalog uses 11,500 lb.

Check the balsa core around deck fittings and the mast partners for moisture, and the mast itself for corrosion at the step — the mast should be pulled and inspected at haul-outs. Early boats were fitted with gate valves rather than proper seacocks, and transom drains and exhaust lines had no valves; many have been upgraded, but verify. Gelcoat crazing around the sharp radii of the cockpit is common and cosmetic; the sharp aluminium rudder-quadrant stops can chafe the exhaust hose if the upper rudder nut loosens. The very active International Nonsuch Association is the best source for hull numbers and parts.

The International Nonsuch Association (nonsuch.org) is one of the largest one-design cruising associations in North America, with regional fleets on the Great Lakes, the US east coast and the Pacific Northwest; its members-only pages hold the hull registry and technical archive.