[C320-list] How far offshore?

[Allan Field]

(Not sure this went out the first time...)

According to Catalina, all Catalinas over 30-feet are rated A by the
Recreational Craft Directive, as stated below:

In 1998 the European Union created a Recreational Craft Directive that
established design standards for most recreational boats from 2.5 to 24
meters (8 to 79 feet). New and used boats sold in Europe, including boats
built in the US – or anywhere else – for export to Europe, must be
certified as complying with one of four design categories.

The following four design categories help to quantify a boat’s degree of
seaworthiness, based on the wave height and wind speed the boat is designed
to encounter and handle. The further offshore the vessel is expected to
venture, the higher are the expectations for construction strength,
stability, freeboard, reserve buoyancy, resistance to downflooding, deck
drainage and other seaworthiness criteria.

   - *Category A – Ocean:* covers largely self-sufficient boats designed
   for extended voyages with winds of over Beaufort Force 8 (over 40 knots),
   and significant wave heights above 13 feet, but excluding abnormal
   conditions such as hurricanes.
   - *Category B – Offshore:*  includes boats operating offshore with winds
   to 40 knots and significant seas to 13 feet.
   - *Category C – Inshore:* is for boats operating in coastal waters and
   large bays and lakes with winds to Force 6, up to 27 knots, and significant
   seas 7 feet high.
   - *Category D – Inland or sheltered coastal waters:* is for boats in
   small lakes and rivers with winds to Force 4 and significant wave heights
   to 18 inches.

Since the number of people onboard can impact a boat’s seaworthiness,
changing the number of people on the boat can also change its category,
with more people aboard -- and more weight and potentially less stability
-- putting a boat into the next lower category.

Allan S. Field

Sea Shadow - C387, #103 (formerly C320, #808)

Columbia, MD

On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 9:13 AM Larry Frank <WindSwept at stx.rr.com> wrote:

> Hi Troy,
>
> Could not be said better.  I have met John a few times after his seminars
> and almost went on one of his training cruises.  He is the consummate
> expert, if there is such a thing.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Larry
> WindSwept
> C320 #246
>
> On 8/29/20, 6:53 AM, "C320-list on behalf of Troy Dunn" <
> c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com on behalf of
> troutwarrior at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     Graeme-
>
>     I think this video does a good job of answering some of the mail.   In
> the
>     end ... it's a balance of your wallet, comfort, safety, and of
> course...
>     style.
>
>     https://youtu.be/nCIG_LPcqu8
>
>     FWIW-
>
>     Troy Dunn
>     Hull #514
>
>     On Fri, Aug 28, 2020 at 11:46 PM Larry Frank <WindSwept at stx.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
>     > Graeme,
>     >
>     > What makes an offshore boat is a subject that has been debated at all
>     > yacht clubs and harbor bars for hundreds of years.   I won't get
> into that
>     > but will support the observations that a 320 will pound going to
> weather in
>     > ocean waves.  Maybe not so much in swells like you might encounter
> in the
>     > pacific, but definitely in the short choppy waves that are the norm
> in the
>     > Gulf of Mexico where I sail.
>     >
>     > No one mentioned how far they have sailed offshore.  I know my trips
> are
>     > not the longest but I have sailed 500+ miles from the coast of Texas
> to
>     > Veracruz Mexico in a race back in 2006.  I think Catalina Yachts
> used to
>     > have a spot on their website where significant cruises completed on
>     > Catalinas were logged.  You might want to see if it is still there.
>     >
>     > As far as the open transom, I think your concerns might be misplaced.
>     > When we purchased WindSwept, my wife liked that feature for swimming
> and
>     > boarding the dink.  I thought it was very poor design that would put
> the
>     > boat at risk in a large following sea.  I was wrong.  On one trip in
> the
>     > Gulf we were sailing in a large following sea with winds in the 25 kt
>     > range.  Of course it was dark, everything always seems to happen at
> night.
>     > We were watching in amazement as the big waves would come up behind
> the
>     > stern and the stern wound then rise up and the wave the passed under
>     > WindSwept.  Until one didn't.  It broke in the cockpit.  The cockpit
> filled
>     > to just where the first hatch board should have been.  The water
> then ran
>     > out the transom under the insert in just a few seconds.  It could
> never
>     > have drained that quickly through a more normal scupper arrangement.
>     > Take a look at the offshore racing monohulls in races like the
> Volvo.  They
>     > all have wide open transoms.  I now see it as a good thing.
>     >
>     > Larry
>     > WindSwept
>     > C320#246
>     >
>     > On 8/27/20, 11:49 AM, "C320-list on behalf of Graeme Clark" <
>     > c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com on behalf of
> cg at skyflyer.co.uk>
>     > wrote:
>     >
>     >
>     >     Curious to know if anyone has sailed any significant distances
>     > offshore in a C320.
>     >
>     >     I recall reading somewhere that it’s “not an offshore boat” but
> I have
>     > no idea why, nor at what point you are considered to be offshore. I
> think
>     > it’s a bit more than just out of sight of land?
>     >
>     >     Similarly I don’t really uNderstand the phrase “blue water
> sailing”
>     > beyond the fact that if you’re doing it, you’ve got a good chance of
> waves
>     > breaking over the coachroof and pouring down the companionway if
> you’re
>     > foolish enough to leave it open!
>     >
>     >     Here in Britain the furthest I’ve gone is 110nm across the
> English
>     > Channel to France but I’d like to sail down to the Mediterranean one
> day
>     > (no, not IN one day!) which Means crossing the Bay of Biscay. 300nm
>     >     In some notoriously poor conditions if you’re unlucky Or the
>     > forecasters get it wrong!
>     >
>     >     Is that a foolish prospect in a C320?
>     >
>     >     Graeme
>     >     #366, 1996
>     >     Sent from my phone. Excuse typos!
>     >
>     >
>     >
>
>
>