'Hound David was correct, most of the time it's how the weight is distributed below that affects trim. One other factor is the powering setup. Most outboard powered Catalinas are a few inches higher in the stern. When you replace a 350 lb engine and running gear with a 100 lb ( at most) outboard the stern comes up some, even though the outboard is almost twice as far aft. There should be between an inch or two more clearance between the bottom of the transom and the water surface on an outboard.
So in the dinghy or on the dock, when to look at the boat's stern with nobody aboard, the transom should be between 2 and 4 inches above the water. As a guide to how much you will have to move (note: you should never have to add weight for the sake of trim on a Catalina), there's a naval architecture term known as MCT1" - or Moment to Change Trim 1 inch. That's the weight times the distance moved that is required to make the bow go down 1/2" and the stern go up a 1/2" - for a total of 1" change in trim. For the 27 at design waterline, that's about 650 ft-lbs, so, you can get the stern up a whole inch by moving 650 lbs 2 feet forward (get everybody to sit in the fronn to the cockpit not the back) or 65 lbs 20 feet forward move the spare anchor and chain from the aft locker to the v-berth. As you can see, it's pretty hard to make a big difference, but since you like the way she sails (don't we all), fuggedaboutit! Cheers Peter Z #2622 Snagglepuss -----Original Message----- From: mediahound2010 <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sun, May 16, 2010 10:52 pm Subject: [IC27A] Low in the stern Hey everyone. I'm new here, bought a 1978 C27 this year which is a step up from our C22. I absolutely love this boat, but after looking at her sitting in the water and comparing how she looks to some other C27s in our marina, I noticed she's sitting a bit low in the stern. I've checked everything below and she's dry as a bone. Anyone else noticed this? It's no big deal since there's no water below, and it certainly doesn't seem to affect performance in the least. Quite the contrary, she points like a dream. We were out today in a 5-10 kt breeze and were literally running circles around everyone else. Just curious....
