Just thought I would provide some feedback on the results of the weekends racing. The local Catalina group gathered on Lake Macquaire (NSW - Australia). The group consisted on 309, 310,320, 375 & 42 models. Most of the fleet were just cruisers, but there were a few serious racers in the group (including one 320 owner that scrubs his hull weekly to ensure best performance). We raced our 375 - with all the standard gear, and a crew that had never raced before.

After a pretty good start, we made it to the first mark about 20 seconds behind the "racing 320". We followed this boat around the course, slowly pulling away from the rest of the fleet. After 2 hours racing, we crossed the line about 2 minutes behind the lead boat, taking second place.

We also took handicap honors (based on boat and rig type).

We were very happy with the boats performance, given the furling main and experience level of the crew (and skipper).

A few extra notes:
We have a winged keel and feathering prop.
Wind was 12-18knots.
Course was 3 laps of a triangle.
Leg 1 - almost straight run to mark - one small tack at end to make the mark
Leg 2 - reaching at 90 to 60 degrees to the wind
Leg 3 - Beam reach - goose winging the headsail (no pole to hold it out, so my 6'5" son held it out)

And we had just filled up all the water tanks and a full weekend's worth of food, etc. I am told the racing 320 would have been almost empty inside, with minimal water and diesel).

It has re-ignitied my racing bug (I must admit, I was a member of Australian championship dingy team).