Being a new sailer, what is the probability of a catalina 30 capsizing under strong winds? I would like to know the limit of my boat before I start experimenting.
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Trevor
Leaded keel
Hi John - I don't know the particular dynamics of your boat, but given it has a lead keel, it would be nearly impossible to capsize your boat under wind pressure alone. You could theoretically roll or pitch pole (end over end) in huge seas, but wind pressure alone won't do it. The farther the boat heels over, the more wind spills out of the top of the sail. The weight of the keel will counteract the pressure to heel over. Not factoring that the boat will round up into the wind and "pop back up", picture constant BIG WIND pushing boat down almost 90 degrees with air spilling out the top. This would be as far over as you could go. Obvously, wind usually comes in gusts in reality and the boat will round up (broach) in an extreme puff. I like to use the "weebles wobble but the don't fall down" analogy when I have newbie guests aboard. This illustrates the concept and usually makes people feel better about heeling. Have a great time! Trevor
Hi John - I don't know the particular dynamics of your boat, but given it has a lead keel, it would be nearly impossible to capsize your boat under wind pressure alone. You could theoretically roll or pitch pole (end over end) in huge seas, but wind pressure alone won't do it. The farther the boat heels over, the more wind spills out of the top of the sail. The weight of the keel will counteract the pressure to heel over. Not factoring that the boat will round up into the wind and "pop back up", picture constant BIG WIND pushing boat down almost 90 degrees with air spilling out the top. This would be as far over as you could go. Obvously, wind usually comes in gusts in reality and the boat will round up (broach) in an extreme puff. I like to use the "weebles wobble but the don't fall down" analogy when I have newbie guests aboard. This illustrates the concept and usually makes people feel better about heeling. Have a great time! Trevor
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Augie Byllott
I've sailed a Cat30 for 14 years in the waters that surround Long Island. I cannot imagine this heavily ballasted boat capsizing due to wind pressure on the sails. If very large seas, 20 to 30 feet high were encountered together with very strong winds, capsize might be a possibility depending on the way the boat was handled. In practical terms, one checks the local marine weather forecasts and knows when to remain in port. If one is out and the wind rises to cause an uncomfortable heel, then one shortens sail by dropping or furling the jib and taking a reef or two in the mainsail. Less sail = less heel. Study the charts of your sailing area so that you will know where you may "duck in", if the going gets too rough. In my experience, this boat has always been tougher and more reliable than its crew. Should you find yourself in heavy seas, put the companionway boards in place and close all hatches to ensure that water over the bow does not get inside. Try out the manual bilge pump that is located in the cockpit. Make sure the handle is always "handy" in case it is needed. I needed mine only once. I had put off replacing the shaft log packing and my automatic bilge pump crapped out. Every half hour, a few strokes on the manual pump emptied the bilge.
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Tim Dranttel
Physics
From a pure physics point of view, wind alone will never be sufficient to capsize a boat with a fixed ballasted keel. Boats have been "knocked down" (mast parallel to the water) before due to a big gust or a broach (usually involving a spinaker). Waves are a different story. According Dashew's book "Surviving the Storm", a breaking wave equal to or greater than 1/3 the length of the boat is sufficient to capsize a boat. For a Cat 30 that means a 10 foot breaking wave taken broadside would do the trick. Tim
From a pure physics point of view, wind alone will never be sufficient to capsize a boat with a fixed ballasted keel. Boats have been "knocked down" (mast parallel to the water) before due to a big gust or a broach (usually involving a spinaker). Waves are a different story. According Dashew's book "Surviving the Storm", a breaking wave equal to or greater than 1/3 the length of the boat is sufficient to capsize a boat. For a Cat 30 that means a 10 foot breaking wave taken broadside would do the trick. Tim
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Dave Slepoy
capsizing information
At Borders they have a book with a title close to "HOW TO BUY A CRUSING SAILBOAT". This book has all kinds of neat information....including a formula to figure the ability of a boat to capsize. It has some tables with a lot of common boats listed @ the Catalina 28 has a rating of a "2", on a scale of 1-10 and a 1 meaning it would take an 2 elephant's on one side and an act of GOD to knock it down; also a 10 would be DON'T sit 2 people on the same side or over you go. Look up the book its great.
At Borders they have a book with a title close to "HOW TO BUY A CRUSING SAILBOAT". This book has all kinds of neat information....including a formula to figure the ability of a boat to capsize. It has some tables with a lot of common boats listed @ the Catalina 28 has a rating of a "2", on a scale of 1-10 and a 1 meaning it would take an 2 elephant's on one side and an act of GOD to knock it down; also a 10 would be DON'T sit 2 people on the same side or over you go. Look up the book its great.
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RonD
There is a Capsize Screening Formula that gives a "rough indication" of a boat's form vs ballast stability that you can use to compare different boats. It is: CSF = [Beam/Cube Root{Displacement/64}] Beam in feet, displacement in pounds. A CSF that is equal to or less than 2.0 is considered better for a cruising boat. That said, much ado about capsizing is more relative to the captain & crew's knowledge, attitude & preparation regarding your boat in rough weather than to the boat design. There is a nice PowerPoint slide presentation on this topic that I downloaded from the US Naval Academy Dept. of Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering: "Offshore Attributes -- Yacht Design 103" by Dr. Paul Miller. It discusses boat stability & capsizing. If you provide an email address, I'll send it to you. --RonD
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Steve,86 cat(wagtail)
Capsize screen
John the capsize screen for the cat 30 is 1.84,you can view it on the front page on catalina owner's.com under performance ratios.Happy Sailing
John the capsize screen for the cat 30 is 1.84,you can view it on the front page on catalina owner's.com under performance ratios.Happy Sailing
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