[C320-list] fin vs. wing keel

[Brad Kuether]

If you can sail comfortably in your waters without worrying about going 
aground get the fin.  The performace difference is remarkable.   But if you 
have any doubt on depth, you open up a LOT of options with the wing.  And to 
be honest, I move along OK.  (folding prop really helps here...) Pointing is 
a different matter.  I find with the 150 up front and sheeted in tight, I do 
better, but nothing great.

My prior C&C had a 5'4" fin, and that was boarderline.  I did OK in the 
upper Chesapeake.  Some anchorages were out of scope.

6 feet plus under a Catalina 320?  No way.  Not here.

-Brad, Mary, Monica, and Jarod
"Independence"
2004 Catalina 320 Hull 1006
Middle River, MD

PS - First snowfall of the season has begun in earnest.  Its supposed to be 
bright and sunny with highs still in the low 60s!!!!!!



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Burti" <clburti at gmail.com>
To: <C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 1:15 PM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] fin vs. wing keel


The simplest rule of thumb is for East Coast cruising...get a wing
keel...West Coast, a fin is fine.

There is simply too much thin water South of Norfolk not to take
advantage of the extra foot of clearance..

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 12:58 PM, Gene Helfman <genehelfman at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> Dear all: In our ongoing search for a 320 (ca. 2000 +/-), we've run into a
> mixture of opinions on the qualities of the shallow vs. deep draft boats.
> We have a harbor and hoist situation in our home port that makes 6 ft 
> draft
> problematic but not impossible. Would anyone like to chime in on the costs
> and benefits of the wing keel boats (of which fewer were produced and are
> harder to find) vs. the deeper-draft fin keel boats? We intend to cruise
> not race so faster turning isn't much of an issue.
>
> thanks,
> gene
> --
> Gene Helfman, Professor Emeritus
> Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
> PERMANENT address:
> 498 Shoreland Dr., Lopez Is., WA 98261
> (360) 468-2136
> genehelfman at gmail.com
>
> "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day,
> Teach a man to fish and he'll deplete the
> oceans."
>
> The Book of Bob, Ironies 24:7
>



-- 
Chris Burti
Farmville, NC