Catalina 387 pseudo-staysail-stay.

[jaysweet]

Does anyone know what happened between the Catalina 380 (maybe 1996-2003) and the Catalina 387 (2003-2009?) as far as the mysterious appearance of a stay that looks something like a staysail stay, but seems to be way too close to the mast to be one (to my very uninformed eye). To see what I'm talking about, see photo #19 in the listing https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2003-catalina-387-10301054/ . Or at least a couple of other active 387 listings. These boats (the 380 and 387) are very, very close to being the same boat, but suddenly an extra stay appears on deck that doesn't seem like it could possibly be for an actual staysail. Did they just perceive some need to stabilize the mast with an extra stay?

Asking for a friend...

 

[dlochner]

That stay is a baby stay. It serves 2 purposes to help bend the middle of the mast to affect mainsail shape and to prevent the mast from pumping. A likely reason for the presence or absence of a baby stay is the mast section. A lighter more flexible mast would benefit from one, a stiffer heavier mast would have less use for a baby stay. A quick look at Yachtworld seems to indicate the 380 had a mast with a larger section.

 

[jaysweet]

That stay is a baby stay. It serves 2 purposes to help bend the middle of the mast to affect mainsail shape and to prevent the mast from pumping. A likely reason for the presence or absence of a baby stay is the mast section. A lighter more flexible mast would benefit from one, a stiffer heavier mast would have less use for a baby stay. A quick look at Yachtworld seems to indicate the 380 had a mast with a larger section.

Ah: thanks. I've heard the term, but don't have any experience with this. I had assumed that the only point of a stay between the mast and the forestay would be for a cutter rig, to hang a staysail on. I guess the baby stay is close enough to the mast that it wouldn't cause much of a fuss for tacking the genoa.

 

[kappykaplan]

Ah: thanks. I've heard the term, but don't have any experience with this. I had assumed that the only point of a stay between the mast and the forestay would be for a cutter rig, to hang a staysail on. I guess the baby stay is close enough to the mast that it wouldn't cause much of a fuss for tacking the genoa.

I have a baby stay on my Pearson 37 and have never had a problem with getting the 150 genoa through.

 

[jaysweet]

I have a baby stay on my Pearson 37 and have never had a problem with getting the 150 genoa through.

Thanks for that. One doesn't know what one doesn't know.

To be transparent, I'm considering buying a C380 or a C387. I'm not sure why Catalina changed the design, but as far as I can tell, the differences are 1) the C380 has room to step around the wheel in the cockpit, whereas the C387 seems (?) to have perhaps more lazarette room, with no room around the wheel, 2) the C380 has a C-shaped settee in the saloon/salon, vs. the C387 seems to have an L-shaped saloon/salon on the port side, and 3) the C380 has slats/battons lining the interior hull sides in the salon, vs. veneered plywood in the C387. For me, all of these favor the C380. Perhaps one thing in favor of the C387 is that most of the boats currently on the market have a roller furling main. Less common for the C380.

Most of these features seem to favor the C380 over the C387. More than happy to hear your views on this.

 

[jaysweet]

... and there's some difference in the V-berth, regarding a gap on the stbd. side.

 

[PEBI]

I copied both layout of 380 and 387 into Photoshop.

Like you said the 387 beam is larger. More space. The settees/matresses on 387 are more square, while the 380 curves towards the bow.

Also the navigation chair on the 380 wasn't replicated on the 387.