Impressions of C-30 from ace boat owner

[longterm]

I've been taking lessons from a friend who races his 35-foot J105, which is a really fast boat set up for racing, as opposed to the Catalina 30.

We went out today in a brisk wind, and he was constantly praising the C-30's handling and overall performance. He was clearly surprised by how much he liked my boat; I was thrilled to hear him tell me, "You have a really sweet boat there."

I wasn't expecting that sort of reaction from him, but it made me feel even better about my new boat...

Bob

 

[Bad Obsession]

They will also take quite a beating. I transported mine in Early April from Deltaville to my home port (about 60 miles).

The weather changed abruptly and we got nailed by a very strong cold front. The winds built up to 40 knots sustained and the waves were 8 feet at times. I buried the bow into a wave and blue water was at the front pulpit.

I motored into this weather for 5 hours because the stretch of water that I was in, Smith Point, the first point of refuge was the Coan River. It took me 5 hours to reach the Coan River. I thought that I was going to loose the boat. Burying the anchor in the mud was the greatest relief.

They are tough boats. I wouldn't take this boat on long blue water cruises but it will do great as a coastal cruiser. They sail great but you want to reef early. That being said it will sail okay in heavy weather if you balance the sails.

 

[Brad on Vashon]

as opposed to the Catalina 30.

Bob

Bob, you make it sound like such a bad thing, hehehe. I had the same reaction to sailing "Eider"' after being told what a scrubby sailer a C30 is. I got about 5 kits in very gusty and un steady 10-13kts last week end under head sail only. I had the sheet leads set up wrong, but I was pretty surprised.

 

[longterm]

Bob, you make it sound like such a bad thing, hehehe.

Nah, I did buy a Catalina 30, so I think they're great boats... I love my new Catalina 30! But, they're not racing boats, they're cruisers.,I made the conscious decision to buy a cruiser, not a racer; I could've gotten an incredible deal on a J30, but it's not what I wanted. But when I saw the interior of a Cat-30, it was love at first sight.

One of the things my friend said was that the Cat is a very forgiving boat--which is ideal for a novice like me. I got he impression that he likes and respects the Cat-30 much more than he expected.

My idea is that I'll cruise on my boat, race in a jib & main fleet sometimes, but for real racing I'll crew on a J105. Then I'll go back to my boat, grill some steaks and sip an espresso.

There's a guy at our marina who has a boat so stripped down that he doesn't even keep a few bottled waters on board...

Bob

 

[Brad on Vashon]

I race occasionally on a tartan ten. We only fill enough fuel to get to the race start, we strip all the covers off the lines, much of the interior paint and laminate is gone to save weight. It's a pretty competitive class of three....