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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

what's the dif on a trailer

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/28/2004 : 00:46:12

What is the difference between swing and wing, with respect to trailering, launching and retrieval?
I've identified that I want to buy a C25 on a trailer and thought that the swing keel was the right boat, but now I see that a wing keel might be better. On a budget of $10K-12K (or preferably less), should I be looking for a wing keel?

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MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2004 : 00:54:34

I have a fin and have launched side by side with a swing. Set up time was pretty much the same. The difference was launching. There is a much greater procedure for launching my boat. There is not a greatly significant difference between the swing and wing, from what I've read here. I don't think that is the issue. But there has been great debate at this site on the merets of both the wing and swing and I am sure you will get much imput on that aspect.
Oh, the side by side launching was for a club Montery Bey trip. We both arrived at Monterey from Moss Landing in the same time. The guy with the Swing went on my boat before and said he felt the fin was a bit more stable in the same conditions.

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Sea Wolf
1st Mate

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27 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2004 : 09:56:54

Use the search option for the forum, there is a lot on it.

Here's one thread that comes up: http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7009
I'm trying to get a handle on this myself. The wing keel seems to be a popular option from what I've been reading, but in my search for boats it seems wing-keeled C25's are hard to find. For now, I've only found a couple C25's with wing keel for sale anywhere--at least through the major listings sources. And as I recall they are retrofits. If I understand it correctly (and maybe I don't) boats that come from the factory with the wing have a little extra headroom, whereas a retrofit wouldn't.

I also found the article on retrofitting informative.
That is here: http://www.catalina25-250.org/tech/tech25/wingcon1.html

Deciding on a first boat sure is a project.

Good luck.

Edited by - Sea Wolf on 08/29/2004 15:26:06

Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2004 : 11:01:07

Stampeder,

I've had my C25 for two seasons now, last season my boat was a swing and I trailer launched it every time because I didn't have slip. Over the winter I had a wing installed and really didn't notice any difference launching the wing, other than I didn't have to crank down the swing obviously, and I didn't have water sloshing up through the keel cable pipe onto the quarter berth cushion as I was backing away from the ramp. While it does seem that the wings are hard to find for sale, one option you might be open to is find a nice $8 or $9k swinger, trying it out, if you still want a wing, put down the additional $3k to buy it and install it and you're within your original $12k budget.

Just a thought.

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2004 : 12:53:49

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Sea Wolf
 If I understand it correctly, and maybe I don't, boats that come from the factory with the wing have a little extra headroom, whereas a retrofit wouldn't.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The "extra headroom" referred to is only on hull numbers between 5803 and 6031 (the last 228 C-25's built, what I call the "Mark IV" design). These boats were built in 1988-1990, but there was also a production run of Factory wing keel boats built in 1986-87 with hull numbers between about 5200 and 5802; these are the so called "Mark III", and they do NOT have the lowered floor and extra headroom. Mark IV's are very rare and only a few come up for sale in the whole country in any given year - I drove 6100 miles, from California to Virginia and back - to buy mine, and Bruce Ebling drove from Oregon to Utah to buy his. Mark III's with the wing keel are somewhat easier to find, as there are more of them, but in the whole production run of Catalina 25's of all models - about 6031 huls - about 40% are Fin Keels, 40% Swing keels, and 20% are Wing keels. Nevertheless, the Wing keel is probably the best all around choice for a cruising boat (not so good for racing as they can't point up as high as a fin or swing keel). As others have posted, the Wing keel requires no maintenance, is no more difficult to launch and retrieve on the trailer than the swing keel, and you can keep it in a salt water marina permanently with no adverse effects. Swing keels kept in salt water marinas need frequent maintenance and inspection, and the salt that gets pulled up on the cable will rot out the cable winch rather quickly, as it is not particularly corrosion resistant, being a plain, general-purpose Fulton winch that was not designed specifically for Marine use.

One last word about Catalina 25's regarding towing: Any of these boats, regardless of which keel they have, will weigh in at about 7500# including the trailer, and you should not attempt to tow one with anything less than a full-size, long-wheelbase 3/4 ton or 1-ton pickup truck, Van, or Chevy Suburban. Samller SUV's like the Dodge Durango may have fairly powerful engines, but they don't have enough weight or wheelbase to safely tow a load this big; you risk jackknifing the rig in a panic stop situation, damaging the powertrain while pulling up a steep launch ramp, or burning out the brakes on long steep mountain downgrades.

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2004 : 17:09:44

I have to express again, how much I appreciate your comments and considered explainations. Our intention, is to learn how to sail in preparation for a one year leave of absence planned for 2008. We want to buy a sailboat in the Caribbean and sail it there for a year, and at the end of that year - sail it back to the west coast of Canada. Meanwhile, we live on the east side of the Rocky Mountains - we want to buy a boat that we can use on the lakes around here, in the interior of BC and once or twice a year, trailer out to the west coast. We expect that 3 or 4 years of sailing here, and one year living aboard a boat will prepare us for the blue water trip home. We will be looking for something in the 34' range.
So, I've been burning my eyes out scanning the internet looking for the right information to make the right decision...which has lead me hear - but sometimes, I still think that a C22 might be a good decision. I've also been putting off my next vehicle purchase until I buy the boat. I don't really want a Chevy Suburban - but then again, it might make a good billboard for my company while its not acting as the landtug. Thanx again.

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2004 : 18:42:48

For what it's worth, I stumbled into www.boats.com last week and looked up 25' Catalinas for sale. There were 69 of them listed. Probably not all still for sale but seemed like a good source for researching the market and it's really fun to look at all the owner modifications, particularly pics of the cabins and galleys. Don't know how many 22s there might be.

Steve

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