Does anyone have opinions on the Catalina 250 wing-keel?
Any issues with the balsa-reinforced cabin top?
How does she sail? Thanks for any info.

Does anyone have opinions on the Catalina 250 wing-keel?

Great for camping. If you want to sail buy a Merit 25 or an Olson 25.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

Does anyone have opinions on the Catalina 250 wing-keel?

Great for camping. If you want to sail buy a Merit 25 or an Olson 25.

Here's some advice you can actually use.
The Merit and Olson are fast race boats with a fine history, but lack the
Catalina's cruisable nature. They are also not suitable for safe and relaxed
family sailing, if that's what you're looking for. Consider that the Merit
rates much like a J24, while the Catalina clocks in with a slow rating of
around 240, far less performance, but a stiff and stable platform for family
daysailing and weekend cruising. The Olson and Merit have interiors that are
something less than inviting, but then cruising is not what they're about. That
said, people have taken long trips on even smaller boats.
There's nothing wrong with the 250, if it fits your needs. Ignore the negative
types who will try to tell you to buy the boat "they" like.
Good luck!

RB
C&C 32
NY

The Merit and Olson are fast race boats with a fine history, but lack the
Catalina's cruisable nature. They are also not suitable for safe and relaxed
family sailing, if that's what you're looking for.

Dipwad, not suitable for safe sailing? A Merit 25 has been safely sailed to
Hawaii singlehanded. I wouldn't try that on the Catalina. Check the numbers.
To the original poster I encourage you to look at the 3 boats. None of them
are designed for extended cruising but the Merit and Olson have fine "camping"
interiors every bit as servicable as the slug Catalina so why not buy the
better made and better sailing boat that will provide the most fun. Both the
Merit and Olson are dual purpose boats. The Catalina is a single purpose boat
and it ain't sailing.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

The Catalina is a single purpose boat
and it ain't sailing.

What an idiot.

RB

Dipwad, not suitable for safe sailing? A Merit 25 has been safely sailed to
Hawaii singlehanded. I wouldn't try that on the Catalina.

I said safe and relaxed for a family. A j24 wouldn't be a great idea either.
You don't know what you're talking about. You don't understand that not
everyone wants a racing boat, so you hand out the same dumb advice again and
again.
The Catalina 250 is a fine little cruising boat, FAR more comfortable for a
family.

RB

And here's another opinion, which agrees with mine. It also gives a good idea
of what the loco character deems important in a boat, which is not to be
ignored either taken with a grain of salt.

http://old.cruisingworld.com/ssbk/catabrem.htm

Good luck. Don't let blowhards like Loco tell you what kind of boat to sail, No
one can determine what's right for you except YOU.

RB

You don't understand that not
everyone wants a racing boat, so you hand out the same dumb advice again and
again.

You should take a look at the Olson 25 interior dipwad or maybe do a little
research by reading an old review. Everybody called it a dual purpose boat.
If you knew the boat you would know that the slug Catalina offers nothing over
the Olson or Merit. They all have basic accomadations. Does the Catalina
offer pressure water? no. Does the Catalina offer a marine head? no. Does the
Catalina offer an oven? no. Just what does the Catalina offer over the two
other better boats? Answer: nothing. In fact it offers less sail area, less
stability, less quality and less of anything else you could come up with. It's
not even as good looking as the Olson or Merit. Go away .... YOU KNOW NOTHING
ABOUT BOATS.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 20:02:22 +0000, SAIL LOCO wrote:

Does anyone have opinions on the Catalina 250 wing-keel?

Great for camping. If you want to sail buy a Merit 25 or an Olson 25.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

OK...take your basic Merit/Olsen/Martin/Hotfoot/J and:

1. lose the $10K kevlar racing sails and put on dacron cruising sails
2. put roller furling on the headsail and MAYBE a "cruising spinnaker"
(AKA "downwind floppy genoa")
3. Add 1500 lb or so of "cruising gear": 2 anchors, chain, etc. dishes,
water tank, holding tank, BBQ, crabtrap... (I had all this and more in my
Cal 25)
4. Add 6 mos accumulation of marine growth on the hull

Now, sail it "cruising style": steer with your foot while you eat, tack
when you've finished lunch, leave the traveller centered, undercanvas so
you don't heel too much...

And you'll find these pocket rocketships don't go so fast. In fact, the
C25 may even beat it. Why? The racers are designed to sail LIGHT and with
a lot of drive. For instance, they're not designed to sail downwind with a
genny. Many have very fine entries which work great when racing, but screw
up when there's 100lb of anchor gear in the bow.

Now, I do notice that the C250 has one thing I HATE: "water ballast". Last
I checked, water is NOT heavier than water so IMHO does not constitute
"ballast" in a boat (it would in an airplane...). Seeing Mac 26Xs heel
excessively (and slip like hell!) in light winds, even with that dinky
mast, is proof enough for me.

If you HAVE to trailer, get a swing keel. It's a compromise, but not as
bad as "water ballast". If you're not trailering, get a fin keel!

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
previously:
"Starsend" Cal 25 (fin keel)
"Determination" Mac 22 (swing keel)

ps
We Cruisers have a name for the likes of you: we call you
"Sammich-anna-6-Pack Sailors"

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:


OK...take your basic Merit/Olsen/Martin/Hotfoot/J and:

1. lose the $10K kevlar racing sails and put on dacron cruising sails

Why? If you've already got them, why not use them?


2. put roller furling on the headsail and MAYBE a "cruising spinnaker"
(AKA "downwind floppy genoa")
3. Add 1500 lb or so of "cruising gear": 2 anchors, chain, etc. dishes,
water tank, holding tank, BBQ, crabtrap... (I had all this and more in my
Cal 25)
4. Add 6 mos accumulation of marine growth on the hull

Again, why? That's just plain neglectful and stupid. Especially on a small
boat that can be scrubbed with no great effort or time sunk.



Now, sail it "cruising style": steer with your foot while you eat, tack
when you've finished lunch, leave the traveller centered, undercanvas so
you don't heel too much...

And you'll find these pocket rocketships don't go so fast. In fact, the
C25 may even beat it.

If the C25 was sailed under the same circumstances, not at all likely.


Why? The racers are designed to sail LIGHT and with
a lot of drive. For instance, they're not designed to sail downwind with a
genny. Many have very fine entries which work great when racing, but screw
up when there's 100lb of anchor gear in the bow.

Actually, the finer bow is likely to be slowed down less by weight forward.

This kind of argument is common, but it's pure ignorance and wishful thinking.
FOr example, you know that Michael Jordan can jump higher than you, so that
suggests (by your logic) that you can therefore carry a heavier weight up a
hill.

If a Catalina 25 is trialed against a Merit 25, with both of them light or
both of them loaded, the Merit is going to prove faster.



Now, I do notice that the C250 has one thing I HATE: "water ballast". Last
I checked, water is NOT heavier than water so IMHO does not constitute
"ballast" in a boat

Another example of ignorance.

Water is heavy. It doesn't have to be "heavier than water" to be ballast, it
just has to be below the boats center of gravity, or even below the boats
metacenter.

Tell me, is your boat's stability increased by filling a fuel tank down low in
the hull? Fuel is definitely lighter than water. How about a big cooler full
of ice & beer?



If you HAVE to trailer, get a swing keel. It's a compromise, but not as
bad as "water ballast".

Depends on one's priorities, and of course, on one's knowledge & skill. I have
owned & sailed a water ballasted trailerable for years and found it very
satisfactory.


If you're not trailering, get a fin keel!

Why not a full keel?

Fresh Breezes- Doug King