The original Catalina 22 and 25 came with either a cast iron swing keel or a fixed fin keel. The obvious advantage of the swing keel was trailerability and the fact that you could launch and retrieve the boat on most any ramp. The hydrodynamic shape of the swing keel is bill and not very efficient from that perspective. The fin keel is more hydrodynamically shaped so that it is by far the most efficient underwater blade of the three types (the wing being the third). The fin keel will enable the boat to point higher and sail better theoretically. It is by far the most efficient keel, but not good for launching and retrieving the boat on a ramp. The winged keel was brought about from the success of the Australian win in the America's Cup with their new winged keel design which provided more lift. Many production boat manufacturer's incorporated that concept, but because they do it in shoal draft configurations, the design really didn't provide the lift consistent with the Aussie's winning boat. But, the objective of the winged keel is to provide the most lift one can expect with a shoal draft configuration. Truth me known, the ugly swing keel made the Catalinas sail into the wind higher than the wing keel simply because the keel swung down deeper into the water, which is really the reason boats point higher. There is also a ballast issue here too. Often you will see that shoal keels are heavier than fin keels because shoal keel ballast is higher and this means that a fin keel can be less weight because it is lower in the water and so it provides the necessary righting moment with less weight, which also can mean less cost in the long run. The nice thing about a winged keel, in my opinion, is it has that trailer ability aspect like a swing keel and can be launched and retrieved on a ramp, but it doesn't make the boat sail higher into the wind, but rather is more efficient off the wind or running and if you stick it in a soft bottom, it can act more like an anchor and dig in making it a bit more difficult to get off. if you are looking for a better sailing boat, the fin is best. If you are looking for trailerability, then the swing keel is better because the keel gets lower into the water. I should also mention another thing......the Catalina 22 or 25 is only supposed to be self righting when the keel is in the down position. So, if you are sailing in heavier conditions, it is a good thing to have the keel down. If you don't like that little tidbit, and don't care about performance or sailing closer to the wind, get a winged keel.