Do some speed tests.
Milt, First to your How Heavy question. Except for the big buck Blue Water Cruisers Catalinas are about the heaviest producton boats anywhere near thier price range. The Pearson 30 you had before may have only weighed approx. the same as the c28mkII wing keel I traded for my c320 wing keel. For your original question I would do a speed test to see if you can get 7kts. in forward. If you can, I would still verify that speed by GPS and or a timed bouy to bouy run in flat water at slack tide. My c320 was delivered with the knot meter about 1.5 kt. low. If you are getting a true 7-7.2kts. through the water then I would say your prop is fine. Don't forget that sailboats are designed to go forward - including the efficiency of the prop. All props except for the AutoProp are less efficient in reverse. The Max and others are supposed to be beter than fixed in reverse. That is a big selling point of the AutoProp - it's blades pivot around to give you the exact same prop in reverse. I crawl up to the area of my slip hit neutral and drift through the 2 back to back 90 degree turns I have to make before shifting back to forward at an idle to enter my slip. The Inertia of about 13,000lbs cruising, not dry weight, is a force to be reckoned with. Stan "Christy Leigh" c320 #656
