Question from potential owner

[BillBerner]

Hello to all from a new member and very likely owner.

A little info about me. I've been sailing around 12 years, and owned boats for 10 of them. My home waters are Long Island Sound. For the past 7 I've had an '83 Catalina 30 Tall Rig, and am now looking to move up to something in the 35-38 range, very late 90's to mid 00's.

Would love to hear opinions from owners about any or all of the stuff below:
Any particular potential problem areas to look for when looking at/surveying used 350's,
How does the boat sail? I've read that it is somewhat slow due to large wetted area, and is especially so in light winds. I'm thinking that a full battened main with slab reefing may be the way to go if I can find one.
The Ballast/Displacement ratio would indicate that the boat should be very stiff (which is a very good thing for my admiral). True?
The motion comfort number and d/l is lower than most other 35 - 38's Does the boat pound a lot in waves, or feel much like a cork in the water?
What's the difference between the 350 and 350 Mk II?
Any appreciable difference between pointing ability, tracking, stability, or speed between the wing and fin keels.

I think that's about it. As a point of reference, other boats I'm considering are Catalina 380, Catalina Morgan 38cc, IP350, outside chance of Tartan 3700, 3800, or IP 380 ($$$).

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to replies.

Bill Berner

[dvolkman]

Hi Bill. My sailing partner and I bought a 2004 350 MkI last November. We saw the 350 Mark II at the Annapolis boat show two years ago and fell in love with it. We had previously owned a Catalina 30 tall rig and sailed it for a few seasons on the LI Sound, out to Block Island and into some of the towns in the Fisher Island sound (Stonnington, Mystic). While the 30 sailed just fine as long as you reefed when necessary...we lacked the stowage, fuel and water capacity we desired for our longer cruises. The 350 offered all that and more. We were very dubious of the performance and how the boat would handle in rough weather. Still, it seemed like a great step up.

Here's our experience so far...WE LOVE IT! We've sailed it from City Island to Shelter Island and many ports in between. The boat handled everything the weather gave us, including 35mph winds with higher gusts. The choppy seas of the sound didn't make for an uncomfortable ride at all...the boat plowed through most of it. We have the in-mast furling, which meant we could reef in the sails without leaving the cockpit...something we could never do in the 30. When the sails were balanced in heavy winds, the boat tracked perfectly with little to no weather helm. We never ran out of water even though we both like hot showers every day (we're not into "roughing it" ). We were able to stow all the clothes we wanted and still have room for guests. Also, for the first time, I was able to pack all the food for two weeks and have extra room.

OK, so what were the drawbacks? The refridgerator on ours (as with most of the MK1's) was not insulated very well and the condenser seems undersized for the amount of space...so I packed some large blocks of ice in the freezer to keep the unit from having to run continuously. By doing this, everything that was previously frozen did stay frozen and the stuff in the fridge did stay cold. There are many articles on fixes, but we haven't addressed it yet. Also, be aware...if you are sailing and spending nights on the boat without running the engine while heading into an achorage you won't have hot water. It takes about a half hour of running the engine under load in order to heat the hot water. We may add a generator down the road to solve that. (again, we like hot showers!)

Other good points...stowage....a lot of it! We have two fold up bikes stowed in the Starboard side cockpit locker. There's room for everything and then some.

All in all, I think the boat is better than it's reputation with non 350 owners.

But this is just one owner's oppinion. I can't wait until next season when we head to Nantucket or up to the cape!

David V.
s/v Electric Ladyland
#261

[BillBerner]

David -
Thanks very much for the input. Is Electric Ladyland a fin or wing?
I'll be watching for you in the sound next season.

BB

[R.B.]

We love our 350 as well (in mast furling and wing keel) The things that made the decision for us: in-mast furling, headroom below, storage, no traditional layout in the cabin, wide beam, large cockpit.

Things to be aware of:
- fuel filter bracket cracks at the bend ( there is a recall on this )
- clear tube from antifreeze reservoir sometimes leaks (easily replaced)
- freezer and fridge insulation is lacking
- some boats had issues with prop cavitation ( another prop is available)

Other things are just normal wear and tear that you have on all boats.

Sailing wise, light winds are an issue with the 350, it does like heavier winds. We usually don't reef until after 20 knots of wind. The 350 can be sailed pretty flat, as with anything it is a compromise.

[PHerzfeld]

Just to add my $0.02, I've had a several boats prior to my 350 and none have been as fun and comfortable to sail as the 350. I have a fully battened (non furling) main, and haven't had too many light wind issues. She definitely sails better with a little more wind, but we've been fine in 4-5 kts too. The large cockpit makes having guests aboard that much more enjoyable, and I have no problem single-handing the boat even in 25-30kts of wind.

[dvolkman]

By the way, Electric Ladyland is a wing keel. I have had fin keels in the past and haven't noticed a problem in pointing with a wing keel. I suppose it is possible that you lose a few degrees when heading up with a wing instead of a fin, but it must be very slight.

D Volkman
#261

[BillBerner]

Thanks again to all!!

BB

[lyle]

I have a wing keel and the standard non furling main. This is my 5th sailboat I have owned from 27 to 47 feet. We bought this boat 3 years ago mainly because of the layout and amount of space onboard which is better than many 38 footers. We sail the boat in the Pacific Northwest 50 - 60 days a year and spend extended trips of a month or more. I have found the boat to be very seaworthy and have not found a problem with sailing in light winds which we get a lot of here (my previous boat was a Hunter Legend 35.5 which was a great sailing boat) but we are not racing - just cruising. I have an assymetric spinnaker which definately helps downwind and would like to add a feathering prop in the future. My biggest beef with the boat is it's performance in following seas - the big wide stern kicks around a lot but that would be typical of similar hull styles as well. We are looking at insulating the fridge to address that issue which is well documented here but where we are located that is only an issue on the really hot days which we don't get a lot of - unfortunately. We have upgraded the batteries and alternator and added an invertor, cabin heat, cockpit enclosure, and are just adding solar panels . If I could do it over again I would buy the boat for all the same reasons and think it is a great boat for the money.