"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've heard that repeatedly over the years, but it simply doesn't bear
out in
practice. Sailing beam to beam at the start, the WK C36 always pulls
away
from her shorter WK sisters. I think a lot of the rhetoric about
Catalina
boat speed had nothing to do with race results, but rather with C34
owners
who for some reason didn't buy the longer boat. Wishful thinking, in
other
words.

It's just not the case, unless something else is at work...like one's a
fin and ones a wing. The 34 with fin is faster than the 36 with fin.
They have virtually the same waterline, same sail area and beam...but
the 34 is substantially lighter. The 34's more modern underbody gets
credit as well. If the 36 is always pulling away, something is up with
the 34 that you're not aware of.

The other issue is that I have no trouble staying with (windward) or beating
(off the wind) C34s--any of them, and we have lots o' them around here. But
I can't stay with my friend's C36 except downwind, and then it's tough.

Max