Catalinas rule

DaveJ

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Apr 2, 2013
449
Catalina 310 Niagara-on-the-Lake
Bias opinion here......
There are 2 things that stand out in the 310, the large forward berth (we sleep with our heads at the pointy end) and the huge cockpit. As stated earlier, the party often ends up on our boat....more room than most. Then we added the folding wheel! A friend with a Dufour 36 Grande says that he wishes he had our cockpit in his boat, same comment from a friend with a 33 Bavaria...all boats are 2001/2002. The galley is acceptable, but this is the one area that my wife comments on...not enough storage. We have cruised for up to 3 weeks, but of course stopped often and replenished. Did a 3 day cruise last year with 5 adults on board, stayed at other clubs so used BBQs and picnic tables most of the time, and there is room for 5 to sleep.
Every boat is a compromise, the 320 has a larger galley and aft berth, but those are not the areas that are most important to me.
My boat will not be for sale anytime soon, can't see a replacement that gives me what I have for the $$$$.
Cheers
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
You might be misunderstanding … I'm talking about our Starwind 27.
Probably so. The post title was "Catalina" and viewing the posts on an iPhone gives no indication of the boat as the splash on the left does not contain the detail that exists on a a real browser. :) No issue.
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
So instead of the expression "whatever floats your boat", the lesson here is "whatever boats your float". Terrible right?
Another 6" of the pesky white stuff last night. I'd >love< to float my boat right about now!
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
That's very interesting about the cockpit. What Sue loves about our dock neighbor's Hunter 310 is the spacious, round cockpit. It essentially has no sail controls to get in her way of enjoying the space! Would you say that the C310 cockpit is similar? I realize it doesn't have the arch, as the Hunter does, but if the spaciousness is similar, that's a big plus. It's closer to our style of sailing to have the winches closer to the helm.
Yes, Scott, the sail controls are out of the way. The traveler for the main sail is mounted on the mid deck, forward of the cockpit. Most of the sail controls lead to clutches on the cabin top, where the halyard winch is. The genoa furling line leads to a cleat outside the port coaming. And the genny sheet winches are on the outside of the coaming, fairly close to the helm.
The cockpit is indeed spacious. The seats are long enough to lie down on, and fairly wide. A cockpit table unfolds up from the helm, and unfolds to the side. We usually eat our meals here.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
That's very interesting about the cockpit. What Sue loves about our dock neighbor's Hunter 310 is the spacious, round cockpit. It essentially has no sail controls to get in her way of enjoying the space! Would you say that the C310 cockpit is similar? I realize it doesn't have the arch, as the Hunter does, but if the spaciousness is similar, that's a big plus. It's closer to our style of sailing to have the winches closer to the helm.
To add onto what Tom wrote,

One 310 owner (I can't recall who) added a kit to move both traveler controls to the same side of the companionway (the port side I believe) based on the travel controls on the 5 Series. And I have been trying to redesign some of the sail controls, mainly based on other ideas from the new 5 Series and some other things I have seen out cruising. For instance, I am going to add a second set of cars to the jib track to keep the aft point were the line hits the winches fixed and lower, then I can add clutches to hold the sheets in place. Then I am going to try a "German Sheet" system where the main sheet is lead off the cabin top forward of the dodger and then back to the genny winches. This would make for more controls at the helm and less need to go forward once the sail is raised.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
BUT but but... With a Wing Keel do you really know you are pointing OK? Maybe against dagger board or center board boats of the same size. Maybe against other wing keeled boats...
What about a deep fin keel Catalina 310 boat, with hank on jib in moderate breeze. Can you out point that fella?
REEF! FLAT IS FAST! And you point at a higher angle.

I wrote this blog post almost 5 years ago after a similar comment was made a local yacht club. If you are not pointed well in a fin keel boat the most likely problem is you are heeled too far over. We typically sail at a heel of 10-15 degrees. Any more than that and we loose speed and pointing ability. We have our original 2001 sails with many nautical miles on them. They are baggy and the genny is way too big for cruising (we just ordered a new headsail and went with a 115 with a high foot, big reduction in sail area because the 135 is almost always too much down here). That said we often out perform many "blue water" boats with longer water lines down here in the trades. Typically because of sail trim and staying flatter on our bottom.

I did some experiments on a friends Brewer 44. That boat could point just as well into the wind with the keel up if you stayed flat. And you didn't loose speed because its more efficient to sail flat on beamy boats with flat bottoms.

If you are club racing and want the best performance, sure go with a deep fin keel. But that boat won't be built for carry capacity of livable layout. For cruising, especially once you make it to the Virgin Islands, you won't care about pointing ability. Other than sailing from the US east coast to the Leeward Islands, its beam reach or down wind sailing.
 
Oct 3, 2011
825
Anam Cara Catalina 310 Hull #155 155 Lake Erie/Catawba Island
We love our 310 and have ..we went from a C25 that we owned for 10 years, and are glad we did, the boat sails great-wing keel-we entertain our friends in the cockpit-in fact our sailing friends all want to meet on our boat!
We love how its laid out, easy to single hand due to placement of the winches etc.,storage for us is easy, granted we do not live aboard like jesse, but we do spend weeks aboard at a time. she is easy to work on, live aboard friendly as far as we are concerned. We love the Queen size inner spring mattress (We sleep feet to the pointy end)
and the storage compartments. She sails flat and fast for us-6.5/7 knots. We use a 135 headsail and that does us on the Great Lakes just fine. We are happy to own her over a 320-there are differences and it is personal choices.
We replaced our bimini and added a dodger for more all weather sailing-we also added the Tempress hatch from the head to the lazarette, changed our lights to LED. We have added other features but the basic boat is great!
 
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KZW

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May 17, 2014
831
Catalina 310 #307 Bluewater Bay, FL
There are five C-310s in the Choctawhatchee Bay. I sail with (against) two of them on a regular basis. My boat has a furling Genoa, furling main, wing keel, and a fixed three blade prop. If I didn't have a wing keel, I would be able to get into and out of the slip. One of the other 310s I run against has the same configuration, excepting a feathering Kiwi prop. I cannot stay with him. The prop is the difference. Another 310 has a furling Genoa, standard main, deep fin keel, and fixed three blade prop. He can point just a bit higher and when at the same wind angle is just a shade faster.
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
If I didn't have a wing keel, I would be able to get into and out of the slip
Our wing keel sat in the mud at low tide when we were berthed at Cape Haze, Englewood, FL. After all our preparations to head up the ICW to New England, we backed out of our slip and got stuck. Had to wait another hour or so for 6" of water to find it's way in from the ocean.
 
Oct 3, 2011
825
Anam Cara Catalina 310 Hull #155 155 Lake Erie/Catawba Island
AWWW The Joys of Tides....
On Lake Erie we have No tides BUT we have Seiche- which means depending on which way the wind blows and how hard one end of the lake can get deeper than another and than go back again.
Look it up.!
It does not cause me to get stuck though.
 
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Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
AWWW The Joys of Tides....
On Lake Erie we have No tides BUT we have Seiche- which means depending on which way the wind blows and how hard one end of the lake can get deeper than another and than go back again.
Look it up.!
It does not cause me to get stuck though.
I believe you! We had wind tides in Florida, too. A few days of a norther would change the depth of the bays considerably.
 
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