C34 Relative Speed And PHRF Rating

[Allen Jones]

I owned a Catalina 25 for several years and now I'm looking to move up. I've come across a Cataling 34, 1988, wing keel, with lots of extras that has my attention. My sailing is split between east coast cruising and PHRF club racing. My question is - How does the C34 compare in PHRF racing to other boats of this length/class?, i.e. against something like a Hunter 35. Please, let's discuss other things besides sails and a clean bottom. If someone has any comments I would like to hear them. Do you feel it can sail at its PHRF rating? Also if you have a PHRF rating I would like to know it for reference.

The reason  I as ask is that I've talked to a few other racers in our club (with much more experience than I) and they turned thumbs down when I mentioned the boat. The comment I hear is that the C34 does not sail as well as the Catalina 30 or the Catalina 36. I would like to hear from some C34 sailers on this subject. Thanks.

[dave davis]

Allen;
I think that you should either post some options or redue your questions so that our answers will make sense. Anyway, in the San Francisco area, the PHRF is 147. It use to be 144 but I got them to give us 3 more seconds.I asked for much more. I'm personally doing OK but it has been a long learning experience. I have been doing fine against other C34's. The current series that I am in is sninnaker class with Ericson35,Tarton10,Conquibin38,Hunter?(phrf162)Merit25,Santa Cruz27. I'm tied for 1st with Con.38 after 5 races.He has a 120 phrf. We don't have any wing keel boats in our arae that race, so I can only say from what I've heard that they are slower than a fin keel. I don't know their phrf. It's tough to beet a C30 phrf unless the winds are above 15.

[dave davis]

Allen, I looked up the phrf for a wing keel in SF and it showed it to be 6 sec. slower than a fin.  It is 153... Good luck

[Bill Sedgwick]

The SoCal PHRF rating is 150. San Diego (Area G) has a 3 sec allowance (153). The C34 is very competitive with the C36 but in this area, we rarely have enough wind to beat a C30 with it's 192 (Area G 198) rating. I've only been successful correcting against C30's in high winds. The C34 really does well when the winds pick up but in really light winds it not only fails to correct but is slower. From a handling point of view, I certainly wouldn't consider it below a C30 or C36.