Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 250 by Solomon Skibinskiy

Year built	1999
Location of boat	Brooklyn,NY
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2000
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes!It is the best boat for my kind of sailing.
Gear that's been added	20 wt solar panel, autopilot, el.porta-potti, el.pump for the head sink,GPS-chartplotter, wood shelves for my books and pots, sock for furling jib, shore power arrangement, etc.
Structural or complex improvements	Put about 200lb. under v-berth, relocated battery from aft compartment to specially built 2 battery compartment under the ladder, put there two 6v cart batteries in line getting over 200 amp/h, installed anchor roller on the bow, built an ark for my solar panel aft, where the perch seats are, changed rudder angle to the pintle line, getting about 10% of rudder in front of pintle line, improving weather helm problem. I also put small 120v refrigerator instead of cooler, I had to cut into inner skin to adapt it into cooler compartment.
The boat's best features	For such small boat the best feature is her liveability. She seems much bigger inside, than outside!
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Some voids in gelcote; rudder hardware is too weak; I had to replace lower pintle, and I think, that I gonna have to replace it from time to time.
Sailing characterisitcs	Very responsive vessel. Interestingly, when I changed the rudder angle, weather helm didn't disappeare, it just started to show up in much stronger winds. But weather helm indicates, that it is time to reef down. She's asking for it by showing weather helm. I consider it a great safety feature.
Motoring characterisitcs	Outboard is off center, so, when boat is backed up, it pulls to the other side. But it's easy to get used to. Otherwise she's very responsive, I can u-turn on a dime, when have a little headway.
Liveability	LIVEABILITY-that what I was caught on. I've never seen boat, which seems bigger inside, then outside. Head compartment and under cockpit berth is bigger, than on much bigger boats.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	I've dealt with them couple of times. Their help is just a phone call away.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	I've bought her from Coney's Marine dealership. I can tell nothing but the best about them. All their stuff are very high professionals.
Other comments	I bought her in 2000 brand new, and I still in love with her!

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