Towing a Catalina C30 1983

[Woodworks1]

I have a Toyota Tundra 5.7 v8, 4 wheel with 12,000 pound towing package. Trailer is Tri-axle haven’t weighed it yet but it looks heavy and will hold a 34”
Can I tow it down a 4 lane Interstate highway?

 

[JoeWhite]

Your vehicle can handle the towing, BUT you can tow no more than 8 feet wide load. Need permit for wider loads.

 

[sailme88]

You'll need to verify the trailer's capacity. If the trailer and boat exceed that number your would be in violation of law and if stopped cited and impounded. A give away to overloaded vehicle is excessive tongue weight loading up the tow vehicle's suspension.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Given that the dry weight of a C30 is 10,400lbs, you do not have an excess amount of capacity. I know of several who have towed with 1-ton pickups. You also need to add in the weight of the trailer, and it could not be more than 1000lbs and I would find that surprising if it has the needed capacity.

That said, most axles on a triple axle trailer are 5,000lb each so it likely would have 15,000lb capacity. If it has the other possible axle, it would be 3 x 3,500 = 10,500lbs which would not be enough.

 

[dmax]

A C-30 is 10,500 lbs., the trailer is probably 1500 lbs, maybe more. You would be at the maximum or over, not where you want to be if towing for any distance. For the highway, I would hire a professional.

 

[David in Sandusky]

What Joe White said. The Catalina 30 is way too wide to tow without a special permit.

 

[Woodworks1]

Sailboatdata.com gives the displacement a 10,200 lb.
Going to leave the mast at the marina it’s over 300lb.
Here is what Sailboatdata.com says about:
“DISPLACEMENT: If you weigh the boat on a scale, that is her actual displacement. It is the weight of sea water that she will displace when she is afloat. Many designers figure displacement when half loaded with stores, liquids and crew. Some report light displacement which is the weight of the hull and permanent equipment but with empty tanks. Light displacement does not include stores, removable equipment (ex. Sails) or crew.”

But I don’t if that is Light displacement in the sailboat date calculation.
I was hoping to find some one who has towed a C30 and put it on a scale.

 

[Hayden Watson]

That 10,200lb is the weight of the bare boat as it left the factory (assuming a Mk1). They never changed the displacement from what it was listed as in 1975 and the Mk2 boats were all much heavier out the door. The last time I had mine transported, it weighed in at 15,000lbs. That was with most of the stuff I could take out, removed.

 

[Woodworks1]

Hayden,
Thank, that is what I was afraid of.
I couldn’t decide if they’d skewed the displacement to get the S# up or down.
S#=3.972*(10^(-DLR/526+(0.691*(LOG(SA/ D)-1)^0.8))

 

[Hayden Watson]

Hayden,
Thank, that is what I was afraid of.
I couldn’t decide if they’d skewed the displacement to get the S# up or down.
S#=3.972*(10^(-DLR/526+(0.691*(LOG(SA/ D)-1)^0.8))

I am not sure if they skewed it or not. To the best of my knowledge, the early Mk1 boats came from the factory pretty close to 10,300. The problem was that they kept adding stuff to them but never adjusted the spec. You will find that many of the serious racers of C30 are Mk1's. They are lighter.

 

[dmax]

It seems like pretty much every boat weighs more when put on a scale than what the factory says, and often by a lot - I don't recall anyone reporting theirs was lighter.

 

[Woodworks1]

I have given up on using my truck to haul this boat too many variables and too close to the limits that it can haul. No sense in putting my self and others at risk to save a buck.

Thanks

 

[Woodworks1]

I didn't mean to say any thing malevolent about Frank Butler or Catalina yacht organization.
He was and they are giants in the field of yacht design.
For some reason I thought the naval architecture ratios S# was used in the sailboat handicap systems like ORC, IRC, or PHRF it is not. The SA/D ratio is what is used. Sail Area/(volume of displacement)^0.667.
Must have been a short between the headphones.

 

[jssailem]

“No Worries” is the popular phrase I hear. Frank had a great run. He has passed on.

Catalina has changed a lot from the days they designed and built your boat.
I think you have chosen wisely. Once boats are built and released to the public the design shop pretty much moves on to the next boat.

 

[dlochner]

Data sheets will typically list the designed displacement, that is the displacement the naval architect thought the boat would weigh when it left the factory. However, boats seldom come in at the designed displacement for a variety of reasons. One important reason is the actual volume and weight of the glass and resin used when building the boat. It was more art than science and some boats were resin rich and weigh more. This prompted the development of vacuum bagging and resin infused systems.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Sailboatdata.com gives the displacement a 10,200 lb.
Going to leave the mast at the marina it’s over 300lb.
Here is what Sailboatdata.com says about:
“DISPLACEMENT: If you weigh the boat on a scale, that is her actual displacement. It is the weight of sea water that she will displace when she is afloat. Many designers figure displacement when half loaded with stores, liquids and crew. Some report light displacement which is the weight of the hull and permanent equipment but with empty tanks. Light displacement does not include stores, removable equipment (ex. Sails) or crew.”

But I don’t if that is Light displacement in the sailboat date calculation.
I was hoping to find some one who has towed a C30 and put it on a scale.

It's over a 100lbs for sure but I can lift one end of mine. Two guys in the yard weren't straining picking it up when they moved mine

 

[Woodworks1]

You are right normal they are not that heavy. The Marina service manager says this is an oversize mast. Mine is the one in the forground, and the next slip down boat is roller furling main sail on a Hunt 33.5,

 

[jssailem]

The Marina service manager says this is an oversize mast.

During the long production run of this basic model there were a great number of variations with standard and tall rig configurations, each with a bowsprit option, and also including shoal, wing and deep fin keels.

What is the MSM saying?
You have a tall mast?
Oversized compared to what?

 

[Hayden Watson]

During the long production run of this basic model there were a great number of variations with standard and tall rig configurations, each with a bowsprit option, and also including shoal, wing and deep fin keels.

What is the MSM saying?
You have a tall mast?
Oversized compared to what?

I suspect what the boat yard manager was referring to was that compared to other 30' boats, the Catalina has a bigger and heavier section. This is true. We in the C30 family call them telephone polls and they are heavy stiff sections. Very stiff and when somebody askes about "bending the mast" with the aft stay tensioner, we just laugh. It don't bend. I have a very powerful aft stay tensioning system, but it is not for bending the mast. It is used to tension the forestay to reproduce luff sag.

With the exception of the very oldest boat built in 1975 and 76, the mast and boom of the C30 remained the same for the Mk1, 2 & 3. From day one, they offered 4 configurations. The two most common are standard and tall rig w/ bow sprit. You could also order the boat with a standard rig with bow sprit or tall rig without bow sprit but those are very uncommon. The rigging size stayed the same for all years although they did make some changes to the chainplates in the middle of the Mk1 run.