Review of Catalina 309

Basic specs.

The Catalina 309 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect Gerry Douglas in the mid 2000.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 4+2 berths and 174.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Rig

The Catalina 309 is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel

The Catalina 309 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Wing keel

But be aware that even though a Wing Keel keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.

Fin keel

The Catalina 309 is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.91 - 2.01 meter (6.27 - 6.57 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Catalina 309 is 2.15, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

EU classification

Catalina 309 holds a CE certification:

The boat is by European Union certified as Class A. OCEAN:

Designed for extended voyages where conditions may exceed wind force 8 (Beaufort scale) and significant wave heights of 4 m and above but excluding abnormal conditions, and vessels largely self-sufficient.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.5 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Catalina 309 is about 222 kg/cm, alternatively 1244 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 222 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1244 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Catalina 309 is 18.4.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 18% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Catalina 309 is 2.84.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 79% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Catalina 309 is 146 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

88% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Catalina 309 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 18.3, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 21.4.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 73% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	30.8 m	(101.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	30.8 m	(101.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	30.8 m	(101.1 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet	10.0 m	(32.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.0 m	(32.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet	25.0 m	(81.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	22.0 m	(72.0 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Cunningham	4.2 m	(13.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap	8.4 m	(27.5 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul	8.4 m	(27.5 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Catalina 309 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.