Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina Capri-26 by Steve Shaffer

Year built	1992
Location of boat	Peoria, Illinois
The boat is sailed on	Rivers
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1998
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, the Capri 26 had most of the features I was looking for in my next boat. We do occasional overnighters and the sleeping area in the main cabin is awsome. The women really appreciate the enclosed head. The draft with the wing keel is about all the Illinois River can handle most of the time.
Gear that's been added	Yes, just put on a bimini this fall - haven't had a chance to try it out yet because we are "on the hard" for the winter. Added stern rail seats in 1999 - best seat in the house!
Structural or complex improvements	No
The boat's best features	The cockpit room and salon spaciousness, the diesel engine, full head, dutchman flaking system, and self tailing winches.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	I could not get the mast tuned properly resulting in the boat rounding up with every wind gust. I discovered that there was an EB (engineering bulletine) from Catalina addressing this problem and I called to get the parts for the fix. The people at Catalina were very helpful and sent everything I needed free of charge (Next day Air).Now the boat sails like it should.
Sailing characterisitcs	The boat seems to point much higher than I expected and is really hard to "put the rail in the water" due to its beam of 9'10".
Motoring characterisitcs	The boat exhibits pronounced prop walk to port in reverse. If I plan correctly, this helps in backing the boat into my slip.
Liveability	The boat is great for weekend overnighters or possibly a week long cruise if marinas are available along the way for pumpouts and water.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Catalina has been very responsive to any request or problem that I've encountered to date.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	The broker I dealt with was very helpful but is no longer in business.
Other comments	I think that Catalina boats provide the most bang for the buck.

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