Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 28 by Dan Boor

Year built	1990
Location of boat	Annapolis, MD
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2001
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, very lucky to have found it.
Gear that's been added	Bimini, Garmin 180, some running rigging, claw anchor.
Structural or complex improvements	none
The boat's best features	Sailing characteristics, roominess, comfort and size of the vee berth, shallow draft, price and value.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Leaks somewhere on the deck, stanchion I presume, but they're small and more of a nuisance than structural issue. Access to batteries is difficult so I use no maintenance batteries.
Sailing characterisitcs	Very balanced rig gives autopilot no stress. Tall rig so I actually move nicely in light air. Points well for shoal draft boat and virtually no hull-pounding in waves to weather - good hull shape. Very solid feeling boat under sail.
Motoring characterisitcs	With clean hull I easily reach hull speed and actually begin to plane a bit. Major prop walk to port in reverse but you just deal with it and use it to your advantage.
Liveability	Very roomy inside with good headroom, good sized head and a usable shower (vital to livability.) Workable galley. Problem areas are the lack of stowage. Realistically though, my boat only sleeps two people - in the vee berth - so the entire aft double berth is a stowage area. Hanging locker a little small but what do you really expect in a 28' boat.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	No experience with Catalina except for the factory tour in Florida. Worth a look if you're down there.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	No problems.
Other comments	I sail solo about 90% of the time and this is the perfect boat. Shallow draft, sturdy rig, reliable engine that is not undersized and great sailing manners. It is certainly one of the fastest 28' cruising sailboat on the bay and faster than many over 30'. Wheel steering, double lifelines, bow roller, self bailing cockpit, big cockpit seats make this a very special boat that is just plain fun to be on.

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