stability of catalina wing keel

[celticwinds]

I have recently purchased a 1989 catalina 25 wing keel. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how stable these boats are with the wing keel. I owned a cat. 22 before. I have been out sailing 3 times now but unfortunatly there has not been much wind to test it out. I am on a fresh water lake in east tn.I would appreciate any advice any one could give.

[mitiempo]

It's a bit late now, isn't it? You probably should have asked before writing the cheque.
There isn't all that much difference really. According to Sail Calculator Pro v3.53 - 2000+ boats
on which I compared the wing keel Catalina 250 to the standard Catalina 25, the only major difference I could see was the capsize ratio, 2.11 for the wing keel vs 1.99 for the standard Catalina 25. If it's under 2 it is considered good in rough weather, but it is a debated number and you're close to 2. My boat, a CS27 with a 5'2" deep keel is 2.04 and there are lots of boats higher, like for example the Shark 24 and the Santa Cruz 37 to name just two. It's a neat site to look at but no one number tells the whole story. But I wouldn't plan an ocean crossing in a Catalina 250 in any case.
Brian

[johnshasteen]

I know next to nothing about Catalinas, but I've seen some wing-keel boats run aground and it's a bit more complicated than with a fin/full keel - you can't just heave an anchor over the side and heel yourself over to get out of the mud.

[JimB517]

As former Commodore, I would suggest you try asking on our forum. However, I'll answer for you. I have a Catalina 25 fin. My good friend had a Catalina 25 tall rig wing. We sailed together in all kinds of weather. The wing is longer, is lead, and has lots of weight down low in the wings. The fin pointed better. Both were quite stable. No problems in winds up to 30 and seas to about 10 if you reef down and run a smaller jib.

[scottyt]

i like the link it says my 83 hunter 27 has a ratio of 1.93, i knew it was solid in winds.