Hello again,
Wondering if anyone with a similar Catalina has thought about or completed templating of the fin keel.
Previously I had a '78 C&C 29 Mk1 which I raced for years. Some years ago I templated the keel and discovered that the factory keel was not symmetrical, or anywhere near symmetrical. After some research I came across a design template from which I fabricated templates for 3 stations on the lead keel and then reformed the keel to the templates. The change in the boats handling was to say the least VERY noticeable to the good. Tacking angles became symmetrical, pointing ability improved and much of the so called tenderness of the boat at higher apparent wind speeds appeared to be lessened.
So the question is, has anyone done this for the Catalina 36 TR fin keel?
John Hopkins
'87 C 36 TR
Hi,
We mainly race our C36 TR hull 1122, we had her since new back in 1991.
What we have done is to profiled the keel, but I must say that in our case keel was rather symmetric. Would like to change the rudder form but will be heavily penalise under the ORC rule.
Follow the post!
Eladio Vallina
C-36 TR EUREKA II
Hull 1122 (1991)
Home port Barcelona (Spain).
Curious-
John, how did you reshape the keel to make it symmetrical on your C&C? Added fiberglass? I can't imagine doing it with lead.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
For the most part the keel was bigger than design. Soo a grinder was my friend to shape it to the template. Then fairing compound and sanding to complete the task. It too the better part of a month working nights and weekends. In the end barrier coat and bottom paint completed the job. As mentioned it greatly improved the performance of the boat.