Has anyone raced their TM 30?

[GBeck]

I've been thinking about racing my boat in the non-spin class on Wednesday nights on a lake in Georgia.
I've raced many boats before but never my Catalina 30.
I looked up the PHRF rating and it is 174. Lower than I thought it would be.
Does anyone have any tension settings for shrouds. I have a Loos gauge.
No fancy bottom paint, 2 blade prop, cruising sails. We can only use dacron sails in the non-spin division.
Suggestions and help are appreciated.

 

[jssailem]

If your boat has been used for cruising, then go through the boat and remove everything that is not needed for the race. Bet you can lighten the boat by 2000 lbs.

Take the boat out on the lake and mark your sheets at various points of sail & different wind speeds, where you experience the fastest speed through the water. This will give you and the crew a reference point for setting sail trim.

 

[GBeck]

Thanks for the tips. Yes, I could remove the refrigeration unit and water heater. Luckily the boat has not been filled up with stuff. Intially I'm just going to see how fast we are compared to some other boats in our class. There's a Pearson 31 that does well and rates 4 seconds faster. I can use them as a gauge.
Any setting for your shroud tension.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I’d bring the shrouds to 15% as is the normal rule of thumb. There may be more precision adjustments beyond that, especially depending on a day’s conditions, but given the stiffness of Catalina masts the effects on performance are probably in the margins.

If 174 is the base rating note you may be eligible for a fixed prop credit (9 seconds if your PHRF uses the same scheme as in the Chesapeake) and roller furling jib (9 more seconds). A strict interpretation might say removing the fridge and water heater should be penalized a few seconds if it was original equipment from the manufacturer.

If your sails are old and blown out new ones will probably make an order of magnitude more difference than any of the above. Skilled sail trim and tactics will probably make another order of magnitude of difference beyond that.

 

[GBeck]

Thanks David.
I just sent in my PHRF application. I will see how they view the data. My boat is both roller and fixed prop. Not sure how old sails are but not to bad from what I have seen so far.
I plan to make sure the mast is centered in the boat with a little rake aft.
I have been racing sailboats for 50 years so sail trim and tactics are usually ok.
It will be fun to see how the 30 can do.
I also plan to pull the boat in the next couple months and check the paint and bottom.
Not going with full race paint if it needs painting just something smooth. It's been more than 5 years.
If the boat is reasonbly competative then I may consider a folding prop and some better sails in the future. We do have to use dacron sails.

 

[Calif. Ted]

"Congratulations" I said to my friend "I heard you just won the trophy for First Catalina 30 to Finish the Around Catalina Island Race."
"Thanks, I was the ONLY C30 to finish and they had to give it to someone." he said

 

[dlochner]

Thanks David.
I just sent in my PHRF application. I will see how they view the data. My boat is both roller and fixed prop. Not sure how old sails are but not to bad from what I have seen so far.
I plan to make sure the mast is centered in the boat with a little rake aft.
I have been racing sailboats for 50 years so sail trim and tactics are usually ok.
It will be fun to see how the 30 can do.
I also plan to pull the boat in the next couple months and check the paint and bottom.
Not going with full race paint if it needs painting just something smooth. It's been more than 5 years.
If the boat is reasonbly competative then I may consider a folding prop and some better sails in the future. We do have to use dacron sails.

Hard core racers will scrub the bottom before every race. Even a little bit of slime and growth can slow the boat down.

 

[BarryL]

Hello,

If you've been racing for a long time then you (probably) don't need advice from this bunch

Just race it and have fun. As mentioned, you will get credit for the fixed prop, roller furler, and maybe more depending on the size of your headsail.

Just get out there and give it a try.

Good luck,
Barry

 

[shemandr]

PHRF committees are reluctant to award time to boats that are ill prepared. So if you're sailing a boat that attracts fleets of good sailers, like the C30 might because those sailers tend to sail their boats for many years, you are going to get a lower number than you might think fair. It will be harder to sail to that rating.
This is the first paragraph of the phrflis guide:

YRALIS Performance Handicap Racing Fleet

Regulations, 2026

I.Performance Handicapping

PHRF stands for Performance Handicap Racing Fleet, and it describes a group of

sailboats of varying performance characteristics that are handicapped for racing on the

basis of observed performance, rather than the measured dimensions. It is the purpose

of the PHRF system to handicap yachts of various classes or types on the basis of the

potential speed of a well-sailed, well-maintained, and well-equipped specimen of each

type. It is not the purpose of the PHRF system to handicap skippers and crews. Where

sailing skill (or lack of it) is the cause of the result, winning will not lead to a faster rating,

nor losing to a slower one. ...

 

[gfroch]

We race our 30TRBS and usually do quite well. When we don't, it's usually skipper/crew error . One thing to consider is this is a heavy 30 footer. We have a couple similar size boats in our fleet that weight 2/3rds what the Cat 30 weighs and they are very hard to beat. Hope you've had a blast racing this summer!

 

[GBeck]

Thought I'd check back in after our summer series was over and one race this Wednesday to finish the fall series. All our racing this summer has been Wednesday night beer can racing. 10 races starting in April then a week break July 4 and then 10 races from July to September.

It took a while to figure out the boat and what worked best. I quickly realized that tacking was slow, so that was planned and limited. My main was not bad but the 155 was probably 20 years old. I could tell by the sailmakers name.
In the first series we had 3-1st and 3-2nd one throw out and 3 races with no wind.
So I could see the boat had potential just needed good crew and skipper, ME.
I only had 2 crew that had experience and they did not sail every week.
Training crew and skippering is like having your head on a swivel.
One thing I don't like about the 30 is that you have to sit on the low side to see your tell tales and steer. There's just not room to sit high because the life lines are too close to the coaming to sit comfortably.
This makes it hard to see the water and look up the lake to see the shifts and pressure.
I tried to teach my crew how to help with this. One was very good at seeing the pressure and which way to go.
After seeing some potential I ordered a new 155 from Schurr sails in FL. Many boats use him for Dacron sails. It arrived before the second series began.
Another problem with the 30 is that the jib tracks are right under and outside the life lines. This made sheeting the jib as tight as we wanted impossible. To fix this problem I added a 8" piece of dynema to the car and then put a block on the end for the sheet to come through. The angle was too high and we got overrides so I added a car and turning block near the stern so the sheet came back to the winch at a lower angle. This solved the problem until I can add some inboard tracks this winter.
With a new jib the boat really came to life. Our light air speed increased immensely and our pointing ability was much higher.
The second series 8 races, 2 throw-outs for no wind and we had 7- 1st and 1 second.
The current fall series is only 5 races, and we’ve only sailed 3 with one to go this week.
So far 2- 1st and one second.
I usually sail with 4 crew plus me but can do with 3. A few times I have brought juniors and parents and girlfriends. With this boat weight is not as critical as other race boats I've owned.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance and may buy a new main over the winter.
Also considering a folding prop which may move me to another class but better competition in that class would be great.
SV Pleiades 1380
Gary
Lake Lanier GA.

 

[shemandr]

I think the folding prop will cost you time. Maybe more accurately said you’ll lose a credit for a fixed blade prop.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Thought I'd check back in after our summer series was over and one race this Wednesday to finish the fall series. All our racing this summer has been Wednesday night beer can racing. 10 races starting in April then a week break July 4 and then 10 races from July to September.

It took a while to figure out the boat and what worked best. I quickly realized that tacking was slow, so that was planned and limited. My main was not bad but the 155 was probably 20 years old. I could tell by the sailmakers name.
In the first series we had 3-1st and 3-2nd one throw out and 3 races with no wind.
So I could see the boat had potential just needed good crew and skipper, ME.
I only had 2 crew that had experience and they did not sail every week.
Training crew and skippering is like having your head on a swivel.
One thing I don't like about the 30 is that you have to sit on the low side to see your tell tales and steer. There's just not room to sit high because the life lines are too close to the coaming to sit comfortably.
This makes it hard to see the water and look up the lake to see the shifts and pressure.
I tried to teach my crew how to help with this. One was very good at seeing the pressure and which way to go.
After seeing some potential I ordered a new 155 from Schurr sails in FL. Many boats use him for Dacron sails. It arrived before the second series began.
Another problem with the 30 is that the jib tracks are right under and outside the life lines. This made sheeting the jib as tight as we wanted impossible. To fix this problem I added a 8" piece of dynema to the car and then put a block on the end for the sheet to come through. The angle was too high and we got overrides so I added a car and turning block near the stern so the sheet came back to the winch at a lower angle. This solved the problem until I can add some inboard tracks this winter.
With a new jib the boat really came to life. Our light air speed increased immensely and our pointing ability was much higher.
The second series 8 races, 2 throw-outs for no wind and we had 7- 1st and 1 second.
The current fall series is only 5 races, and we’ve only sailed 3 with one to go this week.
So far 2- 1st and one second.
I usually sail with 4 crew plus me but can do with 3. A few times I have brought juniors and parents and girlfriends. With this boat weight is not as critical as other race boats I've owned.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance and may buy a new main over the winter.
Also considering a folding prop which may move me to another class but better competition in that class would be great.
SV Pleiades 1380
Gary
Lake Lanier GA.

Sounds like you’re doing great. Keep having fun and getting the crew more practice.

I always drive from the low side too - much easier to see the trim and traffic down there. A good communicative crew looking for pressure on the water compensates for it being able to see there myself.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I think the folding prop will cost you time. Maybe more accurately said you’ll lose a credit for a fixed blade prop.

Yes, a folding or feathering prop will take away the fixed prop credit, but unless you always race in conditions where you’re close to your hull speed the speed advantage of the folding prop will probably exceed the credit.