Messages

Fellow Catalina 34 owners. My Roller Furling Genoa is on it's last leg's.  I have a 2005 MKII with a standard rig on a Schaffer roller furling with a # 6 tape.  I am looking for a used roller furling Genoa of any size.  Any help would be appreciated.

Many Thanks and happy sailing :)

Gary,

Many Thanks for the recomenmdations. I will check with both of those places.   I am also now looking for a replacement cruising headsail as mine is starting to fall apart so it looks like I now need two sails.  Thanks again and I will let you know how it goes.

Peter

Gary and Dale,

Thanks so much for dropping me a note.  It does not seem like the Catalina 34's are not represented from a fleet perspective on our coast like they are in San Fran. I was happy to hear from a few folks in my backyard that are members of the 34 club.

I used to have a Catalina 30 Tall rig and was able to win races.  I thought I would have the same luck with the 34, but it was not to be.  On the rare day we have strong winds, we can do better, but those days are far and few, and better is next to last instrad of last.

I had a 3DL, that I had been using but it was extreamly old and patched to to hills with hundreds of feet of mylar tape. I was happy to have gotten it, but I do not think from a performance perspective, it was giving me everything a new racing sail would give me.

Our rating is a 150. We are rated as the fastes boat in the B fleet as we do fly a spinnaker.  I have been looking on line to see if I could find out sail sizes for a catalina 34 155%, but that has been hard to find. I figure, if I know the sail size I am looking for, perhaps I can find a sail from another boat that is close.  I measured my 3DL, but it seemed shorter than some of the sizes I found online.

The Pacific Cup sounds interesting. Can you use a spinnaker for those ?.  As for my bottom, perhaps if I dont paint it for a few years it will get faster as the paint comes off, assuming of course that I clean it.

I am going to keep the search for a new used sail going. I need to find somthing before my crew jumps ship to a faster boat.  :)

Another Year has passed, so I thought I would reach out once agin to My Catalina 34 Brothers and Sisters.

Fellow Catalina 34 Racers. I have a 2005 Catalina 34 std rig. I have been racing consistently in Los Angeles in Redondo Beach California  and seem to consistently come in last place each week. I have an experienced crew, a folding prop, a two year old Doyle cruising main and old NORTH Sail 3DL 155 Genoa that due to a run in with a spreader was shredded. Due to its age and fragility, it does not pay for us to put any more money into repairing it.

The winds in our area are light and average someplace between 6 to 8 Knots.  We are looking to purchase another used 155 racing sail preferably for a SDT rig, though we could cut down a tall rig version. We may also be interested in a used Racing main as ours is a cruising main. If you know of anyone with some used sails, we would appreciate if you could have them email me at peter.ellis@ngc.com

If you do not have any sails, I would be grateful for any recommendations for the types or cut of sails that may help us to go faster in light winds. Is a deck sweeper better thn a high clue sail for light winds ?.  Any insight if you know of any places to get any new sails at reasonable costs would help as well.

Thanks again and happy sailing!
Peter Ellis
Ellis Island II
Catalina 34 2005

Your Search is over !!!! How would you like to install your Davit in 5 Min witout drilling 1 hole in your boat. Mark from Garhauer made me a special pair of alluminum clamps that bolt to the stern rail with two allen Bolts.  Just bolt them on and leave them on. When you want to use your Davit just slip it in. There is no better way to go. I can send you pictures if you would like, or you can call me 310-739-3456.
Peter

Fellow Catalina 34 Racers. I have a 2005 Catalina 34 std rig. I have been racing consistently in Los Angeles in Redondo Beach California  and seem to consistently come in last place each week. I have an experienced crew, a folding prop, a two year old Doyle cruising main and old NORTH Sail 3DL 155 Genoa that due to a run in with a spreader was shredded. Due to its age and fragility, it does not pay for us to put any more money into repairing it.

The winds in our area are light and average someplace between 6 to 8 Knots.  We are looking to purchase another used 155 racing sail preferably for a SDT rig, though we could cut down a tall rig version. We may also be interested in a used Racing main as ours is a cruising main. If you know of anyone with some used sails, we would appreciate if you could have them email me at peter.ellis@ngc.com

If you do not have any sails, I would be grateful for any recommendations for the types or cut of sails that may help us to go faster in light winds. Is a deck sweeper better thn a high clue sail for light winds ?.  Any insight if you know of any places to get any new sails at reasonable costs would help as well.

Thanks again and happy sailing!
Peter Ellis Island II

Fellow Catalina 34 Racers. I have a 2005 Catalina 34 std rig. I have been racing consistently in Los Angeles in Redondo Beach California for two years with my boat and seem to consistently come in last place each week. I have an experienced crew, a folding prop, a two year old Doyle cruising main and old NORTH Sail 3DL 155 Genoa that we bought from Torin Knorr a couple of years ago. We got two great years out of that 155, but due to a run in with a spreader at the end of last season, it got shredded. Due to its age and fragility, it does not pay for us to put any more money into repairing it.

The winds in our area are light and average someplace between 6 to 8 Knots.  We are looking to purchase another used 155 racing sail preferably for a SDT rig, though we could cut down a tall rig version. We may also be interested in a used Racing main as ours is a cruising main. If you know of anyone with some used sails, we would appreciate if you could have them email me at peter.ellis@ngc.com

If you do not have any sails, I would be grateful for any recommendations for the types or cut of sails that may help us to go faster in light winds. Is a deck sweeper better thn a high clue sail for light winds ?.  Any insight if you know of any places to get any new sails at reasonable costs would help as well.

On the few days last year that we actually had winds in the 10 to 15 knot range, our boat did sail faster than many of the other boats in our PHRF B Class.

Thanks again and happy sailing!
Peter Ellis Island II

I live in souther California. I recently purchased a Catalina 34 MKII standard rig. I started club racing but my sails are shot and we finish last every week.

I am looking to purchase a good used performance  main with batons, a spinnaker and perhaps a 155 % Genoa. I sail out of Santmonica Bay and the wind on average is light.  Any help would be appreciated.
I can be reached at peter.ellis@ngc.com or via phone 310-376-8097.

Many Many Thanks

Peter

Thanks for the tip I just ordered a Folding Prop. I will need to sell blood for a few years to pay for it.

I am looking to purchase a good performance  main with batons, a spinnaker and perhaps a 155 % Genoa. If you know anyone who has any drop them my contact info. Any help would be appreciated.
I can be reached at peter.ellis@ngc.com or via phone 310-376-8097.

Many Many Thanks

Peter

Fellow Cat 34 Owners,

So I finally got out for my first race on my Catalina 34 2005.  The local yacht club holds PHRF races each week, so we paid our five bucks and off to the races we went.  When we got to the starting line there many boats with crews dressed in brightly colored team outfits, big sails with lots of fancy stripes.  Theses guys looked like they had done this before.

The gun went off and we were racing. We did well at the start but soon faded off into the distant rear.  My small evil roller furling main sail was not match for the sea of Mylar/Kevlar/Tape sails that were passing us by.  Even the Cal 20's were beeting us. When we came around the first mark we managed to fly my old spinnaker from my Catalina 30 with no pole, 1 sheet and a few dock lines.  

An hour later the race was over and while we all had a great time, we rolled into the club dead last.  I decided that if I want to do better in the races, I think I would have to fly a traditional full baton main on my alternate non-furling sail track.

So my question to my fellow Catalina 34 owners is, what kind of sail will work the best to make my boat go fast ?.

My second question is, does anyone have any used performance main sails, big genoas or spinnakers that they may want to sell.  I sail out of Southern California and the average wind is about 6 to 8 knots.

Anything else you could recommend to help me go fast would be appreciated as well.

Many Thanks

Peter

Ellis ISland II
Hull 1722

Roland,

I have used generators on my boats for many years.  One thing I can assure you is that with the exception of the Honda EU series most all low cost generators make tons of noise. The harbor freight will be so loud you will hate yourself more than the other boats around you will hate you. In addation to the EU series being quiet, the power it produces is Clean power and will not harm any of your electronics, It also has the economy mode that will throttle back to lower rpm's as needed based on your power needs.  In this mode a tank will run a very long time.

I am not sure if the eu1000 or 2000 is enough for your power needs or if it will fit but trust me when I say in the long run you will be very happy with the hondas. If you check Craigslist you can find them used in the $750.00 range.

Good luck with the hunt.

Many Thanks to you all.

This is a bit of a bummer as it seems that Catalina must have known about this recurring problem. I am supprised that they did not change somthing to fix it. Based on what looks to be replaced calking, it looks as if somone tryied to fix this once already.

Peter

Steve,

Is this somthing I can get at Home Depot ?. Is this somthing that sticks on ?

Many Thanks

Fellow Catalina 34 Owners.

The companionway on my Catalina 34 sticks and is very difficult to slide forward or back. Over the weekend I cleaned the surface that the companionway slides on. But it did not seem to help. I currently need to jiggle it from side to side to get it to slide in. Have you ever heard of this before, and do you have any recommendations on how to revolve it.

Many Thanks

Peter

Many thanks for all your info. I do have a deck step mast.  Since I was sailing alone, I could not go up on dect to listen to see if I could tell where the noise was comming from. I will try to get out again soon and see if I can hear anything