Racing Catalina 27s

[peterkozup]

Hello to all,
I recently purchased and am sailng a Catalina 27, standard rig, and have entered into my club's Wednesday night races as a JAM entry. I've done a bit of sleuthing on the web and around my club, and am rather surprised at the small number of Catalina 27s that race. In my club I'm the only one. I checked the PHRF-Lake Erie list and found that there are only seven C27s listed as having registered with PHRF on the entire lake. My rating should be somewhere in the vicinity of 210 - 220, which, while not America's Cup standard is still OK for beer can racing. I wonder if any of you who have owned your Catalina 27s for awhile have any ideas as to why they tend not to be raced as much as other boats which are probably not any faster than the 27. I'm just curious, is there something about a Catalina that makes them less attractive to racers? Aside from the Capri models the same seems to be true for other Catalinas -- we have many Catalina 30s in our club but not a single one races. Any thoughts?
Thanks for any ideas you may have.
Peter K.

 

[Peter18012]

Peter (I like the name by the way), virtually nobody races Cat27s here in the California Delta either. I've owned my Catalina 17 years. For a few years about 15 years ago, we had a one-design fleet at my club (Stockton Sailing Club--Stockton CA). It was the result of one Cat27 owner going around to all the rest and talking it up. He organized meetings, held seminars, called everybody to remind them, etc. Then he left the club, and nobody picked up the ball. After a couple years, the fleet fizzled. For several years I was the only 27 racing, and that in PHRF.

Another fleet of old boats in our club (24ft Columbia Challengers, from the early '60s) had experienced the same thing--nobody raced, and the fleet was disorganized to the point of being non-existent. But then one new club member bought one, started racing PHRF and wanted some boat-for-boat competition. So he talked it up with EVERYBODY, and eventually they became the fleet with the largest number of starters on the line, no matter whether one-design or PHRF. Even people who had larger boats bought Challengers just so they could race one design. He still has the enthusiasm and now has a lot of others to help him, and the fleet has been going strong for about 10 years.

Take a look at Catalina 27 fleet 8 on Chesapeake Bay. They have a very well run racing fleet program with great participation. On SF Bay, we had a fairly well run fleet of Cat27s until the guys who were the sparkplugs either moved away or sold their boats. It was too far away for me to participate more often than occasionally.

It's not the boat, it's just that it takes a good salesman to get the enthusiasm going with others, and who has the ability to carry it through. With as busy as everybody is these days, you need somebody to drum up the interest and organize something, and keep it going.

Are you at Sandusky SC? That's where I learned to sail 40+ years ago, racing Lightnings on Sandusky Bay before I moved to California.

Peter

 

[Stu Jackson]

Peter's hit the nail on the head. "It's the people, stupid!" and not the boats. We have a very successful racing group of C34s here on SF Bay for over 20 years now, and the same # of folks in a local fleet on the Chesapeake who never race. It's the interests of the people. Our C34 local fleet here did major cruises up and down the coast in the late 80s and early 90s, but we almost can't get anyone to stick their heads out the Golden Gate anymore, to say nothing of simply anchoring out; they all want to go to yacht clubs and be plugged in all the time.

Things changes as the people change.

It's not the boat.

 

[mccary]

I guess they have hit the nail on the head... I own a Catalina 27 and have zero interest in racing. I raced for several years on a friend's boat and have just lost that racing spirit. AND I am just a few miles south of Annapolis MD where Fleet 8 sails all the time. But don't let me discourage you. The boat should be competitive, I know my boat seems faster than many other family boats out there. So, why not break the rule and go be competitive and win some silver for us non racing C27 owners!

 

[Tom Monroe]

I think there's a cost factor here.

A lot of us own C27's because it's a great boat for those of us who have to sacrifice financially to sail. I know the C27 is a competitive hull, both from PHRF numbers and from observation on the lake. And I have the requisite experience to be successful. What I DON'T have is the money for a new set of mylar sails, a pole, and some go-fast hardware I'd need to make her race ready.

So many of us C27 sailers just enjoy being on the water and forego the expense and effort.

Tom