Brad, I sailed on SF Bay from 1978 to 2016. You have too much sail up. Period. I sailed a Catalina 22, 25 and our 34. I had a single reef in the mainsail from April to September and used smaller than 110 jibs.
Almost all Catalinas (if not most all boats) will turn to weather if overpowered. Call it a safety feature.
And boats with shaft drives will squat under power.
I sailed my Catalina 27TR on SF Bay for 15 years. From April To September, we upwind sailed with a second reef and 95% jib ( equivalent to a 110 on a standard rig), which we frequently reefed by 10-20% (in linear terms).
when going to weather it seems the boat want to round up. I am constantly fighting the helm, when it turn to weather it takes a lot to bring it back on course and then it seems to fall off below course and as I correct it goes to weather again
It’s normal to have a little weather helm going to weather in 5 kts or more. In high winds, depower and reef the sails so that you can keep the boat at 15-20 degrees or so of heel. If your rig is tuned right, you should be able to steer a steady course with the rudder at 3 or 4 degrees of deflection with 15 degrees of heel. Don't try to hold a perfectly straight compass heading; as the wind strength and direction shift slightly, steer accordingly (unless, of course, you are racing and have attentive and active jib and mainsail trimmers)
First, Check the rig tune. Do a basic tune. For a Catalina 30 mast head rig with fore and aft lowers, and non-swept spreaders,: first, move gear so the hull is floating level fore and aft onher lines. Then Check that the mast is centered athwartships, no bends, and no rake, using a weight at the end of the main halyard to measure rake. If you need step by step instructions on how to accomplish that, get back to us for details.
Or read Selden Mast's booklet, specifically the section on mast head rigs.
http://www.seldenmast.com/files/595-540-E.pdf
If the rig is tuned right you can depower the sails as follows. A)To depower the mainsail when sailing upwind: apply maximum outhaul to depower the lower section and Ease the mainsheet and let the Vang off to induce twist in the upper sections.. Lower the traveler to degrease the angle of attack ( but this will reduce your ability to point high). If you still can’t keep the boat under 20:degrees of heel, put in a reef or two. I used to go straight to the second reef with my C27.
Feather up in the gusts, don’t dump the main. Dumping the mainsail makes the boat lurch completely upright and then you need to start trimming and balancing from the beginning.
Make sure you have the backstay tight enough to keep the forestay tight in the gusts. A sagging forestay increases the power of the jib by making the draft deeper. Also, you can mover the Genoa car aft to induce twist in the upper sections of the jib, which depowers it.
Check the steering linkage. If the steering is sloppy, it’s hard to hold a course. Mark the center and 5 degrees of rudder deflection to port and to starboard. Also mark 45 degrees of deflection to each side.
Last but not least have a sailmaker look at the condition and shape of your mainsail and jib. Stretch baggy sails make a boat hard to control, because it heels precipitously in the gusts. If you can’t trim the sails so that the boat has good behavior from 5 to 30 kts with higher gusts, you need new sails.
PM me if you’d like me to take a look. I’m berthed in the Alameda Marine. I’m retired from sail making now, but maybe you’re close enough for me to take a look at your rig tune and sail shape. I could buzz over and take a look.
JudyB
Retired sailmaker