Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Catalina 30
The Catalina 30 is a thirty foot-long fiberglass sailboat first produced in 1974 by the Catalina Yachts Company in California. It is a sloop-rigged boat with a fixed lead keel. It has a beam of 11 feet, and a draft of five feet, three inches. The Catalina 30 has been through three revisions:
- Mark I - Produced from 1975 to 1986
- Mark II - Produced from September 1986 until 1993
- Mark III - Produced from 1993 to current.
All three revisions refer largely to revisions of the cockpit, rather than the hull itself, which besides modernizing the keel, the wetted area of the boat has not changed. There are three types of keels; the original 5' 3" deep keel is still preferred for all-around performance where water depth is no problem. The early 4' 5" shoal keel has been replaced by the modern 3' 10" deep wing keel.
The Catalina 30 is the largest and longest continious production keel boat in the world, with over 6,500 hulls to date, and about a dozen being added every year, as it has been displaced by updated models. In 2001 it was inducted to the American Sailboat Hall of Fame.
External References
International Catalina 30 Association
Other classes of keelboat
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