Potential 350 Owner

[Pemberly]

I recently sold my 1989 Catalina 30 and am in the market for a larger boat. I was very pleased with the 30 - the way it sailed, ease of singlehanding, support from Catalina & Catalina Direct - so my first look was at another and the 350 seems right. I'd appreciate assistance getting past two persistent concerns. First: all the newer Catalinas have in-mast furling and I hear/read about a steady stream of issues with them jamming or having some kind of problem (it's one of the most visited topics on this site). Is this a few noisy outliers or will everyone have an issue with in-mast furling at some point? The ease of use is sure appealing but if there is an issue lurking it will happen at the worst possible time, and with a used boat that may be sooner rather than later.
Second: I do a lot of singlehanded sailing. How practical is that on the 350? Is the boat too big for a couple hour day sail? I know it's all about trade-offs but just how much of an excercise is it to get set and go?
Many thanks for your comments.

[russp]

Hi ????,

I sail my C350 single handed with ease, but in my view you need at minimum:
* autopilot with auto tack working
* electric winch for halyards (and sheets if you get really lazy)
* good balance
* competence with prop walk, reversing, berthing so that if your lines are all ready, and the lifeline is dropped before you come in, you can just step off and secure it.

Most often I just sail on the genoa (135%) and am careful to part furl it early if the wind gets up. In less that 10 knots I use both but keep a very close eye out for wind changes and drop the main at first sign of strengthening wind. I have Dutchman furling and don't want to be up on the cabin top on my own in a blow.

Regards
Russ Peel
Avalon #150

[R.B.]

I have the inmast furling, and would never order a boat without one again. I have not had any issues with mine. If it starts to get less easy to furl or unfurl I know to adjust my boom vang, and all is well. The key is to have the angle of the boom set properly and it is very easy to tell and adjust. I cruise with other Catalina 36's and they are envious of the inmast furling. Easy of use, staying in the cockpit to adjust, infinite reefing and the quickness of setting the sail and furling it.

I also find it an easy boat to single hand. It handles bigger wind easily, but it is a bit of a "pig" in light winds. I think we will look into an asym spinnaker next year to help with the light winds.

Would I buy again? Yes. For the money we couldn't find a boat with the amount of room below in a similar or slightly larger sized boat. The layout is what sold it for us over the 36.

Good luck!

[wolfe10]

Let us know what area of the country you are in. Perhaps one of us will have a boat you can spend some time on in your area-- much easier to see if it is something you can handle if you see how it is rigged.

BTW, for any of us who have made offshore passages with two people, you are basically single-handing except in emergency situations. Quite a lot of experience doing that-- no problem, particularly with in-mast furling.

Brett
League City TX

[Pemberly]

Russ - Sorry about the missing name, I'm still learning the forum processes.

Brett - I live in Mass. and will likely keep the new boat on Naraganssett Bay in Rhode Island. But we'll be on the west coast of Florida off&on for the next several months. How cool to get replies from Australia, Canada, and Texas, what a great resource. Thanks.

[Triumph]

I live on the west Coast of Florida and would be happy to take you out and use my roller furling main.

I too had trouble at one time, my main was hard to get to unfurl. But the problem I had, and others might experience, was a bellied out, blow out main sail shape. I had all the experts look at it, and the minute I put a newer flatter main on, the furler worked perfectly like the day it was new. No problems other than this. You can contact me e mail at cullensailor at gee mail dot com

[jking]

Hi,
We also owned a 1989 Catalina 30. I have never had any type of problem with the in mast furling, and like it a lot. The C350 is much more balanced than the Catalina 30. Its easier to sail and handles stronger winds a lot better. I really like the 350. I would say the weak points are insulation in the fridge (the C30 was the same) and cockpit drains have 90 degree bends in them so they always clog up. The swim ladder is awesome. I single hand the boat a fair bit, and its pretty good, but had a hard time in a sudden storm while on anchor and dragging not having more hands about.
Jan #303

[TBOT422]

Ralph,

I agree, the C350 is a bit of a pig in light winds. When considering the addition of an asymmetrical spinnaker to help with light winds, you might also want to consider a roller furling spinnaker similar to Doyle's UPS. We have the Doyle UPS and it's ease of use is absolutely wonderful. We just clip it on to the port anchor roller and hoist it up with the halyard. It has a small furling drum and furls around its luff rope. We can do all of this at the dock and just leave it sitting in front of the 135 genoa until needed. We can then furl and unfurl the UPS from the cockpit versus someone going up on deck to douse a true asymmetrical. The UPS is not quite as big as a true asymmetrical, so you won't get maximum performance. In our case it is about 650 sq ft versus 900 sq ft for an asymmetrical and 400 sq ft for the 135 genoa. You can tighten the halyard enough that you can easily sail into the wind at about 70-80 degrees which you couldn't do with an asymmetrical. I've actually sailed it near a close haul at 45 degrees, but I get better performance from the 135 genoa at that angle because the UPS has more roach in it and you can not get it flat enough.

Everything is a compromise. If you want better racing performance and have plenty of crew, an asymmetrical would be a better choice. If you sail single handed or short handed (crew of 2), and just want better light or down wind performance and ease of use, then a furling spinnaker might be a good option.

[boatplug]

Echo the sentiments of others, the in mast furling system works great and wouldn't buy another boat without it! The 350 is a super room boat and easy to handle. A friend recently upgraded to a Catalina 42 and has his 2004 350 for sale via Eastern Yacht Sales at Hellier's in New London Ct. The boat is in super shape and has a bow thruster to ease manuevering for a single handler.

Gary Smith
Blind Date #130

[DuncanMcMillan]

Paul,

Like Ralph I do a fair bit of single handed day sailing (2-3 hours) and the in mast main is a tremendous asset. The only time it jammed was when I was too strong on the inhaul and pulled the plastic cleat at the clew into the mast slot. It took a few minutes to get out but my own fault.
Normally it's in and out with no issues. It's one of the best features on the boat.
If I need to reef down I only adjust the main area unloaded. Depending on the forecast I'll set it at 1/3, 2/3 or full to start.
Like most of us I've looked at bigger boats but unless they have in mast furling they offer too much work and of course require at least one person out of the cockpit.
The auto pilot allows easy tacking for a single person with two hands free and some preparation.
I just have a couple of loops on the unloaded winch, take the loaded sheet out of the clutch and press the two buttons, pick up the unloaded sheet and flip the coils off the loaded winch as we head up. It's not America's Cup precision but it works.
Without auto it becomes a bit of a speed drill but can still be done.
With auto pilot just make sure that front hatch is closed so that the gib sheet does not get snagged.
The garhauer car adjusters are an excellent upgrade and allow trimming from the cockpit.
The boat does sail much better in 7 knots or more unless you have a gennaker which will work for even 2-3 knots.
In recent times I've been playing with traveller in the lighter and medium winds and seeing some nice speed improvement.
When we got the boat we were told that it would probably sail better more upright than well heeled over and we've found this to be true. The Admiral and less experienced sailors really like this.
The 350 is a really nice cruising sailboat with lots of room below and above.
Good luck whatever you decide.

[william vanwagoner]

I also had a 1989 Catalina 30 with a full batten main that I traded in for my 2004 c350. I single hand more than 90 percent of the time ( my version of therapy) and love the way it sails compaired to the 30. I have had very little trouble with the furling main but do need to use the winch to pull it out and get the coreect outhaul tension. My biggest gripe with the setup is sail shape. It is not ideal and even flattening under considerable tension I still get a bit of "flagging- I.e. small waves running accross the sail). It may be time for a new main and I would suspect vertical battens might help as well. That said, I sail much more often than I did with the 30 because it is so much easier largely due to the furling main.

[donmcmn100]

Paul-i have a 350 that i will be putting up for sale in the near future. she is based at Titusville, FL. she is a 2003 model with new canvas enclosure. i can be reached at 407-382-2069 if interested. Don McManus "Brooke Elaine" #122