[C320-list] Handling chop & short period waves

[David Swanson]

Mike,

Moving up from a Hunter 30, we almost bought a C34 instead of a C320 a couple of years ago.  Both the C34 and the C320 are beautiful boats and you probably would not go wrong to purchase either one.  We bought a loaded 2007 C320 MK II and coastal sailed it extensively from Ventura Harbor to San Diego Bay, in Southern California.  We have sailed the boat all along the coast and to Catalina Island as well as extensive sailing in SD bay before trucking the boat to Seattle this fall.  We have lived aboard the boat with a family of 4 for a month at a time while we are harbor hopping the SoCal coast.  I am really glad that we bought the C320 MK II.  Our boat is a fin keel design and the haul out weight is about 16,000 lbs.  The haulout weight of our old wing keel Hunter 30 was about 8000 to 9000 lbs.  These boats handle remarkably different in rough, choppy seas.

Having significant past experience with a Hunter 30, which is a lighter keel boat, the C320 handles rough choppy water amazingly well. The boat handles ocean swells and coastal chop very well.  It has significant weight and inertia and plows through the chop in a very steady, confidence inspiring, manner.  Our older H30 would bounce around in heavy seas and rough chop, round up easily, and at times, without warning, but not our C320.  I suspect the C34 handles rough, choppy water as well as our C320.

There is a C34 two a few slips away from our 2007 C320 MK II and I have been able to compare the lines of our C320 with the C34 boat every time I go down to the marina.  Here are my observations:

1. The double spreader roller furling rig on our boat sails really well.  It is efficient and easy to handle, especially in high winds and choppy seas.  The single spreader rigs on the C34's that I am familiar with use traditional flaking sails.  While sail shape of these rigs can be more readily tuned, the hassle with raising them, lowering them, and reefing them is not worth the benefit in sail shape for our coastal cruising use.
2.  The freeboard on the C34 seems lower than our C320.  The cabin seems smaller to due to this lower freeboard.  The C34 decks seem a little wider though, which is good for moving around on deck while underway.
3.  The cockpit on the C34 seems narrower, more rectilinear, and smaller than our C320.  Our C320 cockpit is well sculpted and has very good seating on the side coamings, and great vision while sailing.  We especially like the stern pulpit seats.
4.  The C34 has a great owners website Wiki.  It is very well done and I refer to it quite a bit for great boat care and customizing ideas.  Check it out, it has excellent information that is very easy to access.  Our C320 IA website is good too.  Lots of good comparison information.
5.  We like the C34's L shaped galley and right angles in the cabin interior.  It seems more efficient than the C320 with all of the angles relative to the head enclosure, aft cabin entry, and galley sink.
6.  The C320 seems like a more modern Catalina design.  I believe that Catalina stopped making the C34 MK II in about 2008 or 2009.  You should verify this.

We really love our C320.  It is the perfect boat for our family,  We almost bought one of the last newly made C34's a couple of years ago, but I am glad we purchased the C320 instead.  My guess is that you will be very happy with either boat and your selection will likely just come down to personal preferences of minor differences in the two boats - like it did for our family.

Have fun with your purchase.  I hope this information helps you.

Dave

David Swanson
S/V Emily Ann
2007 C320 MK II, No. 1107
Mukilteo, WA 

On Dec 15, 2010, at 6:29 AM, Mike Barrowman wrote:

> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> My first post here - please forgive me if I've done this wrong.
> 
> My family currently has a C250 which we are selling, looking for a larger boat.  I've narrowed the list to the C320 and the C34, leaning toward the 320.  I will need to sail (or have sailed) the boat from the US upon purchase to Cayman, so it needs to be able to handle the trip -- which I believe the 320 can, and know for sure the 34 can.  Any comments?
> 
> 90% of my sails will be day sails solo, and it seems the 320 is a good boat for this.  But, with my wife and young daughter on the boat, one of my key needs is a boat that handles chop well.  Our current 250 bounces over the waves a bit too much, which prevents my daughter from enjoying it.  Our bay is very shallow and typical winds of 15kts build very short period 1-2 foot waves.  How would the 320 handle these conditions?  The weight of the 250 is only 4K #, so I'm hopeful the 11K # 320 will slice right through, but after searching the archive, I'm not sure I've seen a direct comment on this.
> 
> Many thanks,
> Mike
> 		 	   		  

David Swanson
kswanson123 at comcast.net