Catalina 350 International Association

For anyone who thinks C350 is not fast,..in the right conditions, I’ve found it can fly. We were sailing with new main and 2nd season w/155 Genoa for 75nm sail from Muskegon-Kenosha across Lake Mi. Tight port reach/sometimes beating in 15-20kts and 1-3’ swells nearly on our nose. AVG sog (no tide) of 6.4 for 9:47 of trip. Top speed…….? 9.8kts
Love this boat.

Similarly, early on in my ownership we had a 24 hour charge up the Australian coast with 25+ kts off the rear quarter. 150 genoa and main stayed up and she was very stable and comfortable, steered much more steadily with autopilot than me !, we put down 180 nm in 24 hours, avg 7.5 kts.

Any tips on how you get the best speed when close hauled? What was the highest you can point (approx wind angle) with the 155 jib and new main. I can get 6+kt on with 135% jib on 15+kts of wind but up near/beyond the 45 degree point I'm still searching for optimum sail trim and trying small adjustments. I was toying with the traveller and main position this past weekend to try a bit more performance and I'm always looking for advice on the trade off between VMG vs a slower tighter point of sail, I have basic ST60 instruments so its mostly a guesstimate on the optimal trade off.

Wow. That’s astounding. I’m very humbled Russ.

Well done.

russp wrote: ↑Sun Aug 21, 2022 7:07 pm Similarly, early on in my ownership we had a 24 hour charge up the Australian coast with 25+ kts off the rear quarter. 150 genoa and main stayed up and she was very stable and comfortable, steered much more steadily with autopilot than me !, we put down 180 nm in 24 hours, avg 7.5 kts.

I’ve experimented with a number of different configurations. Generally in winds over 15+kts , (closehauled) I find a 90% jib and full main helps me to get @50-55 degrees to wind and good speed. As wind picks up I roll in main. Like most Catalina’s I’ve sailed (30 36 & 42) when beating hard (55-40degrees to wind), the power comes predominantly from headsail so rolling in or reefing main (when I’m bordering on overpowering rudder force) allows me to maintain optimal speed and point highest . However I stand to be corrected if others have differing techniques

I’m also always looking to optimize speed on boat.

John

cuthbert wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:56 am Any tips on how you get the best speed when close hauled? What was the highest you can point (approx wind angle) with the 155 jib and new main. I can get 6+kt on with 135% jib on 15+kts of wind but up near/beyond the 45 degree point I'm still searching for optimum sail trim and trying small adjustments. I was toying with the traveller and main position this past weekend to try a bit more performance and I'm always looking for advice on the trade off between VMG vs a slower tighter point of sail, I have basic ST60 instruments so its mostly a guesstimate on the optimal trade off.

To properly answer yer question- I can only point to about 50degrees closehauled. Perhaps others can get closer to the wind? If so, I’d love to know how..

J

Correction, thx to a savvy forum member correcting my flawed attempt at practicing math/geometry in public. I was sailing as closehauled as possible (w/tails flying evenly) and comparing hdg/cog on one tack to hdg/cog on opposite tack and dividing the difference by 2 to get closest angle to wind I could point. Obviously that is flawed logic as the pix attached shows I can point to w/in @30degrees of wind just like most with wing keel. Thx again for correction and assistance John. I still think tuning mast will be very helpful although boat is very balanced sailing in all conditions as is.

Better pix to illustrate how high I can point…