Topic: Past History
The Contessa 26 entered production in England in 1966 by Jeremy Rogers in Lymington, with several hundred built. "Contessa of Lymington" (the real hull #1) was launched on April 28th, 1966. In the first three years of production 350? hulls were laid up. Moulds for the Contessa were shipped to Canada in 1969, with the first of the boats completed later that same year. J.J. Taylor and Sons Ltd. of Toronto. The JJT boats were renamed “J.J. Taylor 26” in the middle 1980s because of some problems between Taylor and Rogers. My guess is that a total of around 750+ boats were built in both Canada and the UK. There are deck, interior, and rig differences between the Rogers (UK) boats and The JJT boats. For clarity, the UK boat is generally referred to as a “CO26” while the Canadian boat is called a “JJT 26” (regardless of year).