I am one of the non racing Catalina 27 out there in an area with plenty of racing Catalina 27s (just south of Fleet 8). I spent a ton of time earlier in my sailing career racing bigger boats. It was a blast but I got tired of that. And perhaps one of the major reason was the time commitment racing requires. If I did just the local beer can races, the starting line is less than 150 yards from my slip, it would require me to be sailing every Wednesday afternoon/evening from mid April through mid September and every Sunday afternoon from mid September through mid November. I work for myself and my schedule is sporadic. When a client calls they want me to come. When I raced (same beer can club) I lost many assignments which translates to money. I enjoy sailing because it is relaxing and not stressful. When it looks like it will be stressful I don't go. With racing, if you commit to racing EVERY race, you go all out every time or there is little point to signing up.
But all this does not mean I don't try to go fast; whoever said when 2 sailboats are near each other they are racing was right on the mark. That is exactly how it works on my boat. When I raced, I was the club sore keeper. I did all the PHRF adjustments and dealt with scoring the events, so I know when one boat is ahead who wins. Sure the Catalina 27 is a fast boat and should do well in PHRF racing, but as the saying goes; Been there, done that and I have the hats to prove it. Joe McCary Aeolus II West River, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] It really is amazing, the number of Catalina 27's in all the local marinas and so few race.
