more isn't necessarily better!
This is just a biased opinion.... I've raced the 260, boat for boat, on my H26 "Cntrl Sea". It was a fined keel and looked beautiful in the water. 10 knots of wind was giving us both a solid bow wave. A lot of comotion was created as I stiffened up the main and started to kreep up on and above his transom. It's not a great testomonial when a swing keel boat points higher than a real sailboat. Pointing up until a pinching battle starts only tells you how long you can ghost, but we did very well because the fixed assets on the 260 placed to much weight aft and I was able to move ballast farther forward. We were ingaged into a visible contest when I fell off the wind to go for some boat speed and he followed. As time progressed the wind increased to 17knt (gusting to 24) and we both were smokeing. My boat tends to get overpowered and wants to round up but luffing the main at the bottom seems to balance the helm and the boat speed increases allowing us to trim up to the apparent. Proving to remain ahead I fell off to a broad reach and stayed in front. The run was very interesting because I got to raise the keel and plane down 4 ft sweels. That's when he decided to harden up and go home. Maybe he didn't use his boom vang or something. We were too far ahead to tell. You can see, I love to tell a good story! At least that's how it looked on my boat... Another comparison of the boats is the space in the cockpit on th H26 is remarkably more usable, because it doesn't have the seat locker for the optional wheel steering. This is a big plus at anchor. The rear berth is also larger because of the transom configeration. I tend to enjoy the soft lines and simplicity of the 26, but remember to keep the forward hatch closed when sailing. The 260 definately has beautiful contempory lines but for my taste it is hard edged (I love the looks of both of these boats and see a lot of refinement on the 260). The boat spec. suggest that the H26 has 290 sq ft of sail while the 260 has 320 sq ft. and that the mast hight is 4 inches greater on the 26. Don't know if they have a longer boom or if they increased the size of the jib but what ever they did I bet it was a detune of the lively and even tender performance of the H26, (I've learned to reef early). Not everyone likes to stay focused on balanceing the helm, but it sure pays out in speed! I bought my '96 H26 used from a great guy in the Marine Corp. who thoughtfully rigged the "Cntrl Sea". He added CGI roller furling with a large bail and increased the size of the jib to 110% w/UV pertection. This really improved the weather helm problems I had with my 1st H26 '94 "Chinook". I've learned a lot with the struggles regarding that issue, that translated into speed. I'd love to race someone on a 260 that has a killer instinct! I really enjoyed responding to your question, so thanks for asking.
