You can hardly call these racing boats with the wing keel, but we try. We rate 186 in PHRF Chesapeake with roller furling 155% and wing keel. I am trying to determine if my rating includes a fixed prop adjustment or not when I renew this year. I had a Catalina 27 for about 10 years and were always in the front of the pack with her, but now we always seems to be in the back. The smaller boat had kevlar/mylar jibs without the furling, a folding prop, and the fin keel, but none of the amenities like AC, fridge, hot/cold water, real master berth, etc like the 310 has.
Believe it or not, one of the best races we had was a total drifter where we played the current and the crew was quick to pick out the shifts (and set the anchor in foul currents). We were first around several marks, but then it was abandoned. She seems to do better if the winds are over 15 knots, which isn't often around here in the summertime. Most of our racing is in pretty flat water, maybe I need to import some of that Potomac river chop to the Elizabeth river?
I would be interested to know what your PHRF ratings are, and if you have the std keel or wing? When we first got the boat we had a lot of problems with it rounding up in the puffs, but have alleviated some of that by raking the mast forward (we never cleat off the traveler in gusty conditions). I wonder if it would be worthwhile to consider a folding prop?
Dave on Valcour #218
