Catalina 34 sailing characteristics

[sailingshoes]

Catalina community,

I've sailed on the Great Lakes on friends boats, and have leased a few, (Tartan, Sabre, Islander, Ericson, Sun Odyssey). I've been in some pretty nasty weather with all of them over a 15 year period crossing from Chicago to Michigan and have been impressed with their seaworthiness, but I've never sailed a Catalina 34. I have an opportunity to buy a friends 1982 34ft Sabre (needs new sails, electronics, bright work, new lines, etc), or a 1987 34ft Catalina (fully loaded in pristine condition). I guess my question to you is "How well do they sail?" "How do they handle in big seas?" I will not be able to "Sea Trial" the Catalina 34 before I purchase her. Any thoughts / comments would be greatly appreciated from the Catalina 34 sailing community. Most of my sailing will be weekend stuff, but I'd also like to do some cruising around the Great Lakes which would entail criss-crossing the lake.

Sailingshoes

[Stu Jackson]

I'm sure there will be other contributions, but for starters, read the first two articles from our FAQ page: http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq.html

[Rick Johnson]

My advice is get the C34 and have a good survey done on both hull and engine...  I had the chance to buy a 1987 C34 that was completely decked out with all the bells and whistles.  She even had all the portlights replaced with ABI stainless steel. Radar, SSB, dodger, you name it...  Instead, I went with a 1990 that had almost no options and the canvas and sails were shot....  I had to have the walkthought transom.....  Now I'm upgrading the portlights, buying new batteries and have already replaced the canvas and genoa (and replaced or bought a battery charger, rigid boom vang, GPS, DSC VHF radio, oil lamps, rope clutches, running rigging, water heater, water pump, CQR anchor, anchor rode, life sling, BBQ, refinished bright work, etc)...

Buy the C34 (by the way I love my boat, it's a joy to sail) and put the money you save on "new sails, electronics, bright work, new lines, etc" towards the things that you want to make the C34 "your" perfect sailboat....  I owned a C30 before and would say the the C34 is a upgrade in almost every way. 

My 2 cents....

Cheers

[Mark G]

Sailingshoes: I sail a '91 tall rig with a wing keel out of Milwaukee. We had a C30 for five years and the C34 for two seasons. Lots of racing between the two boats. The 34 handles Lake Michigan very well. We came back from Grand Haven last year with average wind in the 20s. It hit 30s and then 40s with a gust of 56.2 as an unpredicted thunderstorm front rolled over us about 20 miles out of Milwaukee. Except for some spray and a few splashes from errant waves, we were dry and well taken care of by the boat. As the big stuff came toward us, we looked on with concern only to have the boat lift us right over it. We fastidiously try to follow the first rule of storm sailing: Don't sail in storms. I admit the storm rattled us, but my main worry was lightening, not staying afloat. If you're out of Chicago, you know the distances we sometimes deal with and what happens when warm humid air hits the cold lake. I can tell you that we feel confident in our boat.

We've sailed a lot in the plus 20 knot wind range. My wife and I will usually just sail the jib in those conditions. The boat is a dream on the jib alone. With another hand on board, or if we're not feeling lazy, we reef the main at the dock and sail both sails. Again, no problems.

I would change out the continuous line furler for the upgrade, though. I plan to do that. The continuous line can be hard to reef. Although, a new line that's soft and pliable helps that greatly.

Good luck,

--Mark

[Ted Pounds]

The 34 sails very well.  Catalina wouldn't have sold a couple thousand of them if they didn't.  I've cruised and raced mine back and forth, and up and down Lake Michigan many times.  I've had her surfing downwind in 10 foot waves (doing 10 knots!) and pushing upwind in gusts to 40kts.  I've even singlehanded her in reefing conditions.  All without a problem.

[Ted Pounds]

Mark,

The trick with the continous line furler is to put tension on both sides of the line.  It's always held a reef for me that way.

[Wayne]

I just bought a 34 this summer and sail it on SF Bay.  It is a nice, stiff boat that handles winds in the 20-30 knot range really well.  It has enough displacement to smooth out the bay chop as well as can be expected for a 34' boat.  Performs well all around.  The boat has a low profile (great for looks, holds windage down) but might take a little more water over the bow than one of the ugly high freeboard boats; a dodger totally solves this.  I was nervous making the purchase (plunging into the unknown) but the boat has exceeded my expectations and I'm really happy about my choice.

[Jon Schneider]

Seems pretty hard to expect credible answers from Catalina owners comparing our boats to another, but you asked....  I have very little experience on a Sabre 34 and that was before I had my Catalina 34, so I can't really trust my recollection.  I agree with everything Wayne said above, particularly the lower windage (of course that gets offset by the dodger).  I  believe there's a huge difference in sail-ability between the Sabre 34 MkI and the C34 MkI.  The C34 is over a foot longer LOA and over three feet longer at LWL.  Plus, the C34 is beamier by over a foot and has an extra 1,000 lbs displacement (at least).  The C34 is faster and also more stable, though the Sabre felt a bit more nimble (a remnant of the old CCA overhangs that look beautiful, but make her sail like the smaller boat she is).  Plus, the Sabre's hull is probably an early 1970's design, while the C34 is very much a product of the '80s. 

Honestly, they are so different in feel that it's hard to compare, and it's not really a "which one is better" argument; it's more like "which one do you like" decision.  That's going to be pretty hard for you to judge without actually sailing a C34.  If you have to guess with a $50K check, then I'd say that if you like a "big boat" feel, then the C34 is a better choice.  The other thing to consider is the cockpit.  If you like a large cockpit, the C34 is hands-down the best boat under 40' (other than the C36 and C38, though neither is really better).  The C34's cockpit is long, but still narrow enough to feel secure and to be able to support yourself in rough seas. 

So that's all about sail-ability.  Obviously, the joinery and millwork on the Sabre far outshine (if you do indeed spend the time shining it up) the C34.  There's also a more generously-powered engine on the Sabre (27HP vs 23HP).  If you go with the Sabre, once you clean it up, you'll have a delicious "classic plastic" boat with traditional lines, but you'll probably be looking at the transom of your friend's C34.  If you go with a C34, you'll be joining a great community that'll help you through any "refinements" you may want to make, and you'll have smooth, fast cruises. 

It'd be really great to hear what Sabre owners have told you.

[Stephen Butler]

Docked along side of an older Sabre 34 for a few days and had the opportunity to exchange boat tours, swap sailing stories, etc.  The fit and finish on the Sabre was impressive and definitely a cut above our C34.  Having said this, the Sabre was actually a smaller boat, and according to the PO, difficult to single-hand in winds above 20 kts.  The yard told us that the Sabre 34 was traded last August for a fairly new C34.  We will see if we can hunt the fellow down and get some more information.   From our own experience of 3 years with our 1990 C34 (with dimpled stern) with the standard rig and a fin keel, our recommendation would be to go for the C34.  We have been delighted with our purchase and the after-sale support from the company and the C34 association.  I think some interesting facts about the C34 are: 1) the boat has been selling for 20 years, and continues to sell at a rate of 1/week (or so I was told), 2) the number of used C34s on the market is never large, particularly with the total number sold, and 3) the boat is sailing in just about every type of waters (ocean, gulf, bay, etc.) and handling all, reasonably well.  Go for the C34!