The Catalina 38 is a sloop-rigged

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 sailboat

Sailboat

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...

 manufactured by Catalina Yachts

Catalina Yachts

Catalina Yachts is a U.S.-based builder of fiberglass monohull sloop-rigged sailboats ranging in sizes from eight to 47 feet in length. It was founded in 1969 in Hollywood, California by Frank Butler .-History:...

 of Woodland Hills, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 from 1977 to 1990. A total of 366 hulls were produced. The boat evolved from a custom racing boat created by the American yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

 design firm of Sparkman & Stephens

Sparkman & Stephens

Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with main offices on 5th Avenue in New York City, USA and offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new vessels for pleasure, commercial, and military use....

; this hull form was later purchased by the Yankee Boat Company of Marina del Rey, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, which built approximately 30 Yankee 38's before the business failed.

Frank Butler

Frank Butler (founder)

Frank Butler, founder of Catalina Yachts, is one of the biggest boat designers and manufacturers in the world.-The Early Wesco years:Born in California in 1928, he started his career in the Navy, and went to college, but found college difficult and did not graduate. He opened his own machine shop...

 of Catalina Yachts purchased the molds from Yankee. Butler redesigned the interior and give the boat a Catalina-styled deck. He lengthened the mast, shortened the boom, and changed the skeg-hung rudder to a balanced-spade design. Butler's changes resulted in a faster boat, and the Catalina 38 was selected to replace the Cal 40 as the official boat of the Congressional Cup, one of the top match-racing

Match race

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...

 regattas in the world. It was, in turn, replaced by the Capri 37, also made by Catalina Yachts.

An article on the racing configuration of the Catalina 38 can be found in the 8th edition of Royce's Sailing Illustrated.