There seems to be some confusion, and some rather odd comments here...perhaps I can clarify things a bit?
1) First, jeep has it almost correct...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeepbluetj
As far as I understand, the "Deep Defense" rudder is a rudder that is designed to break in half on a significant impact to the lower rudder. Therefore the upper part is still there to steer and is a safety feature in the unlikely event of a collision.
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It is more like the bottom 1/3 is designed to "break-away" in the event of an extreme collision, not the bottom 1/2....
And, it is not a "flimsy" break-away point, as it would take an extreme / hard collision to break the damn things! (believe me I know, I own a Catalina 470, and I've seen the inside of the rudders)
BTW, on a side note, it might take some 20mm rounds to pierce the massive water-tight collision bulkhead on my Catalina 470...
Okay, maybe an exaggeration, but it is massive!
(and when I see what most other manufacturers tout as a "collision bulkhead", I just shake my
head and wonder....note that Amel is one that does this pretty good, too....but the others....
)
2) Second, with all due respect to Kent Little ("YachtBroker") and the excellent info ("marketing" info) that he posted.....here are some further facts, for clarifications...
ALL of the "features" that he posted of were developed over the years and incorporated into their designs incrementally, and in the late 90's all of these "new" features were all put into full effect with the design of the Catalina 470 (aka, "the big boat")....
Although some minor changes for various models are made, such as using a huge alum compression post, etc. used in the C470, the rest of these "new" features proved to be so successful that since the late 90's, all of their new designs (and all vessels over 30') have these features as standard.
If you speak to Gerry Douglas, Catalina's VP and chief
designer (as I have done many times over the years), he will confirm that the Catalina 470 was where they originally put all of these "new" design ideas together into one complete design....and it was from this vessel, that they proceeded to utilize all of these design features in all their new models and
all their boats over 30'...
So, what looks like "marketing hype" is actually how they've designed and built their boats now for about 2 decades!
And, to those of us seasoned sailors, it can be interpreted as "marketing hype"....
3) They've made all their bigger boats, and all their newer models, etc. in
Florida now for almost 20 years....even though they did still build some smaller boats in
California after 2000, they haven't designed boats for that market, nor built anything of significance there, in a long while now...
Those that think a bigger Catalina, or a newer model Catalina, is like a 1970's C-27, or C-30.....well they really need to look at a calendar, 'cause it is 2016....and neither Frank Butler, nor Gerry Douglas, has had their heads in the sand!!
Catalina has steadily kept up-to-date with both
fiberglass / resin technology, manufacturing processes, etc. as well as kept deep, well curved underbodies, and forefoots, etc., and kept deep, heavy, pure-lead keels, and massive (and massively strong) rudders and
steering systems...
Here are some pictures of Catalina 470's
on the hard....
The first is my "Annie Laurie", the second a sister-ship....both have the 9750lbs. pure-lead, 6' deep "shoal draft" wing keel...
The third
photo is another sister-ship, with the 8' deep (9500lbs) "standard keel"....
Some may be asking themselves some questions, like:
--- where are those "flat hulls, that pound in a seaway"??
--- where are those "cubby beams"??
The answers are:
They aren't there on the Catalinas....
{FYI, speaking of rudders,
steering,
rigging, etc....a friend who
sold his Catalina 470 because he needed a bigger boat for a growing
family, bought a
Hylas 56....and he found the
Hylas 56's rudder and steering system lacking....wasn't as "massive" and strong as the Catalina's, and the Harken 66 primary winches were the same as used on the much smaller Catalina 470....he also found the rest of the mast/rigging, etc. on the Hylas 56 to be the same or smaller than that of the C470...}
And, here's a diagram of some of what Kent was talking about...
4) I cannot comment first hand on the smaller Catalinas (nor on the older, pre-90's models), but on the bigger boats and newer models, I can say that they actually do meet not just the expectations of the buyers, but also sail well
offshore in heavy
weather....
Now, if you want to discuss Catalina's second-to-none customer
service, factory support (for everything they've ever made, over the past 45-50 years!), etc....or how about the owners groups, etc....opps, that's way too much thread drift...sorry.
Sorry to go off topic a bit!
I just got carried away!
But, I do hope this helps clarify things a bit...
EDIT:
Some good news....you can read everything on the site without registering....you only have to register to "download" something....
Now, I still think that is pretty odd, and I let Catalina know this in a phone call...
After posting my recent message above, I called Catalina factory, and got put right through to Gerry Douglas (VP and chief designer), and told him of the "website" issues....
I was informed that they are diligently looking for some new IT guys (who are reliable and not too expensive) to update and re-do the site....and reminded that these can be rather frustrating financial decisions, as these are dollars spent (taken away from other programs, such as R&D, manufacturing, etc.) that don't always have a noticeable ROI (return on investment)...
So, they are aware of the website issues and are looking for a solution, but seem to be more focused on designing and manufacturing excellent blue water boats, rather than on a fancy, modern website....(and, while I think just doing away with the "registration" altogether needs to be done ASAP, I think they have their priorities pretty well in-line!!!)
Fair winds...
John
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