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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

First Race post mortem

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reuben
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/26/2006 : 14:18:46

Spent last weekend at a three-day regatta, our first. For what they're worth, a few observations:

-- Racing is a gas, even when the wind drops off. In fact, the 250 excels when conditions get light; we had our best finish the day it blew 5-10.

-- We need a Windex.

-- And a whisker pole. This time round we used a teenager holding a boat hook; it worked well, but now the teenager is at college, and the boat hook is on the bottom of Leech Lake.

-- Boats approaching a mark full-speed on port tack don't always like it when you shout Starboard.

-- In these conditions (two of the three days were light) the 250 is a competitive boat. Even on the single day of good breeze (15-18 mph) the other 250 in the fleet walked away with our division, which included a San Juan 23 (eventual 2nd place finisher), ourselves (third) a Santana (4th) and a lovely older Catalina 25 (last). In heavier conditions the results would probably have been different. Perhaps most impressive, the other 250, sailed by Brad Klein, took fourth place overall on corrected time. Terrific sailing.

So read this as an appreciation of the boat, its quickness in light air, its surprising windward ability and its competitive potential. The tone of some posts on this forum had nearly led me to suspect the 250 as a substandard design that might be shown up in head-to-heads with other craft. Not so.

Reuben
C-250 WK #499
Bayfield, WI

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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3321 Posts

Response Posted - 08/26/2006 : 15:24:25

Reuben - just FYI, the rules state that a whisker pole must be attached to the mast when in use. It is illegal to have crew hold it out...
Derek

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reuben
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Response Posted - 08/26/2006 : 15:41:15

I had no idea -- but all the more reason to get a legit whisker immediately! We broke another rule too, by having crew hanging bodily outside the lifelines; a fellow sailor kindly gave us the heads-up instead of launching a protest. The whole fleet seemed pretty relaxed, in fact; Monday's wind was so light I probably saw 8 or 10 boats where the jib was being whiskered out manually, and not one sea-lawyer did they meet.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 08/26/2006 : 16:45:59

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by reuben
 ...I probably saw 8 or 10 boats where the jib was being whiskered out manually, and not one sea-lawyer did they meet.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Sailors call that "local knowledge."

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moserd
Navigator

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USA
149 Posts

Response Posted - 08/27/2006 : 07:18:44

I have also noted that the 250 performs very well in light winds. I went neck to neck with a Catalina 320 which drove him crazy trying to figure out how I was doing it.

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aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 08/27/2006 : 13:10:09

Don't sell a C25 short in light air. Although we sail best in heavy wind, particularly my wing keel, I beat a Beneteau 350, a Tartan 28 Piper, and a Seidelman 25 in less than 10 knots two weeks ago. A Laser 28 beat me by two boat lengths. This turned out to be the only race of the day where winds dropped below ten. I was single handing and had an easier time sail trimming in the light air. I believe that my loose-footed main may have been the difference. I passed five boats upwind. It was a most enjoyable race.

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reuben
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Response Posted - 09/02/2006 : 07:47:25

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I believe that my loose-footed main may have been the difference.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I'm intrigued by loose-footed mains and saw a lot of them at the regatta. Is yours a recent change and if so, what difference have you noticed?

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.