Clarity on Catalina 38

Catalina 38

After our posting yesterday about design #1903, the Hughes 38, we received an inquiry from a blog reader as follows:

"Didnt the Hughes 38 go forward to become the Catalina 38 and was successfully raced in the Congressional Cup for many years? How did that transition take place from the Hughes 38 to the C 38 "?

Its a good question but the answer is no. The Catalina 38 was actually a development of the Yankee 38, design #2094-C2. The story is that Frank Butler of Catalina purchased the molds from Yankee Yachts and started building the boats. When he called the firm and asked about advertising the boat as an S&S design, he apparently balked at the royalty and as a result the boats were advertised as designed by Frank Butler, as can be seen in the brochure below.


Granted Butler redesigned the deckhouse and made other changes. More information can be found on the Catalina 38 international Association website by clicking here.

Principal Dimensions
LOA 38-2"
LWL 30-3"
Beam 11-10"
Draft 6-9" (deep keel) 4-11" (shoal draft keel)
Displacement 15,900 lbs (deep keel) 16,700 lbs (shoal draft keel)
Ballast 6,850 lbs (deep keel) 7,650 lbs (shoal draft keel)
Sail Area 639 sq ft

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