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Having Owned Both
I find the difference is very minimal. I sail competitively against another C-310 in the Thursday night races. He has a fin, full batten main & a two blade prop and I have a wing, roller furling main and a three blade we're always neck & neck sometimes he beats me and mostly I beat him. Actually I beat him 8 out of 9 races this summer but in all fairness I think I'm a better sailor. I also stay right with him on high points of sail and he's never been able to "pinch me off" because of his fin. I'd say unless you're racing all the time buy a wing. I initially wanted the fin with full batten but after looking at past Yachtworld sales of wing vs. fin with my broker. I decided it was indeed best to go with the wing for re-sale value. There was a C-320 that sat for a year and a half at my dealers yard while they sold four 320 wings in that period. That was the final clincher for me as I know I'll never keep a boat for forever and will eventually sell. Oh yeah and I'm a die hard roller furling main convert! I wound up using my boat so much more because of the ease and time savings. It made evening sails pleasurable and do able in a pinch. It takes me 45 seconds to put both sails away! I also like the infinite reefing from the cockpit.
I find the difference is very minimal. I sail competitively against another C-310 in the Thursday night races. He has a fin, full batten main & a two blade prop and I have a wing, roller furling main and a three blade we're always neck & neck sometimes he beats me and mostly I beat him. Actually I beat him 8 out of 9 races this summer but in all fairness I think I'm a better sailor. I also stay right with him on high points of sail and he's never been able to "pinch me off" because of his fin. I'd say unless you're racing all the time buy a wing. I initially wanted the fin with full batten but after looking at past Yachtworld sales of wing vs. fin with my broker. I decided it was indeed best to go with the wing for re-sale value. There was a C-320 that sat for a year and a half at my dealers yard while they sold four 320 wings in that period. That was the final clincher for me as I know I'll never keep a boat for forever and will eventually sell. Oh yeah and I'm a die hard roller furling main convert! I wound up using my boat so much more because of the ease and time savings. It made evening sails pleasurable and do able in a pinch. It takes me 45 seconds to put both sails away! I also like the infinite reefing from the cockpit.
Wing vs Fin
Also consider the waters you will be sailing in ... the wing allows you to explore a tad more than the fin .... I have a wing on my 320 and love it. John
Also consider the waters you will be sailing in ... the wing allows you to explore a tad more than the fin .... I have a wing on my 320 and love it. John
Wing
All of my neighbors are watching the tide tables trying to figure when they can sail. With my wing I go anytime. It's nice. jr
All of my neighbors are watching the tide tables trying to figure when they can sail. With my wing I go anytime. It's nice. jr
Wing for Chesapeake
On the wing keel, the factory adds over one hundred extra pounds of ballast to compensate for the difference in keel depth. If your sailing ground is the Chesapeake, I would think a winged keep would provide so much more in the number of anchoring locations and exploratory areas you can check out. I have the Catalina 30 with the wing keel and the 3'10" draft is perfect for ICW work. The only thing I can think of that is negative is if you ran aground with a fin keel you can kedge off; however, that would be tough with a wing keel as you would dig yourself in deeper. However, a winged keel would hold you steady in a grounding as the tide receeded, whereas a fin keel would make the vessel list. For coastal work, the winged keel is the way to go. Bob
On the wing keel, the factory adds over one hundred extra pounds of ballast to compensate for the difference in keel depth. If your sailing ground is the Chesapeake, I would think a winged keep would provide so much more in the number of anchoring locations and exploratory areas you can check out. I have the Catalina 30 with the wing keel and the 3'10" draft is perfect for ICW work. The only thing I can think of that is negative is if you ran aground with a fin keel you can kedge off; however, that would be tough with a wing keel as you would dig yourself in deeper. However, a winged keel would hold you steady in a grounding as the tide receeded, whereas a fin keel would make the vessel list. For coastal work, the winged keel is the way to go. Bob
Different Perspective
I sail primarily in the north Atlantic - off Nova Scotia. World class sailing area by the way. I like to have the fin keel because it allows me to point higher going up-wind. Also, at 5feet 3inches - I have absolutely no problems anchoring. I generally anchor in 15-20 feet of water - close enough to swim ashore. However, my dock is dicey at low tide. I have gone aground 2-3 time because it gets as low as 4.5 feet. But its not a major factor, I keep it on a mooring. Where will you be sailing? I have also sailed in Florida and in the Caribean if that helps.
I sail primarily in the north Atlantic - off Nova Scotia. World class sailing area by the way. I like to have the fin keel because it allows me to point higher going up-wind. Also, at 5feet 3inches - I have absolutely no problems anchoring. I generally anchor in 15-20 feet of water - close enough to swim ashore. However, my dock is dicey at low tide. I have gone aground 2-3 time because it gets as low as 4.5 feet. But its not a major factor, I keep it on a mooring. Where will you be sailing? I have also sailed in Florida and in the Caribean if that helps.
Response to Resale
Good point about resale - but that depends on region - you don't see as many wing keels in Maine and Nova Scotia.
Good point about resale - but that depends on region - you don't see as many wing keels in Maine and Nova Scotia.
Lots of Wing Keels Here In Maine
My boat yard is now almost 30-35% wing and about 60 percent shoal draft (under 5 feet. I bought my boat in MA and the re-sale value of the wings to fins is far better for wings than for fins. After looking at my brokers internal Yachtworld database I decided to go with a wing... There are plenty of shallow gunk holes in Maine and with my shallow draft it makes it a little more comfortable. Will a fin point higher??? Yes but thats about it...
My boat yard is now almost 30-35% wing and about 60 percent shoal draft (under 5 feet. I bought my boat in MA and the re-sale value of the wings to fins is far better for wings than for fins. After looking at my brokers internal Yachtworld database I decided to go with a wing... There are plenty of shallow gunk holes in Maine and with my shallow draft it makes it a little more comfortable. Will a fin point higher??? Yes but thats about it...
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