Catalina 42 Wing keel

Sailboat specifications

The Catalina 42 is a 41’10” (12.75m) cruising sailboat designed by Nelson Marek (United States). She was built between 1989 and 1995 by Catalina Yachts (United States). The Wing keel version is offered with a short keel fitted with large winglets. This configuration provides an interesting draft / low center of gravity / upwind performance trade-off.

The Catalina 42 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Fin keel version (see all the versions compared).

Catalina 42's main features

Model: Catalina 42
Version: Wing keel
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Offshore cruising sailboat
Sailboat builder: Catalina Yachts
Sailboat designer: Nelson Marek
Country: United States
Construction: Hull and deck: GRP (glass reinforced polyester)
Number of hulls built: About 500
First built hull: 1989
Last built hull: 1995
Appendages: Keel : wing keel
Helm: Single helm wheel
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
EC design category iThe CE design category indicates the ability to cope with certain weather conditions (the sailboat is designed for these conditions) A: Wind < force 9, Waves < 10m B: Wind < force 8, Waves < 8m C: Wind < force 6, Waves < 4m D: Wind < force 4, Waves < 0,5m: A
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Catalina 42's main dimensions

Overall length: 43’ 2”13.16 m
Hull length: 41’ 10”12.75 m
Waterline length: 36’10.97 m
Beam (width): 13’ 10”4.22 m
Draft: 4’ 10”1.47 m
Mast height from D_WL: 58’ 7”17.86 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 20503 lb9300 kg
Ballast weight: 8300 lb3765 kg

Catalina 42's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 797 ft²74.04 m²
Mainsail area: 362 ft²33.63 m²
Genoa area: 435 ft²40.41 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 53’16.15 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 16’ 5”5 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 46’ 10”14.25 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 15’ 6”4.72 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire

Catalina 42's performances

Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 180 ft²/T16.74 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 199
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 40 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 8.04 knots