Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 270 by Brad Buskey

Year built	1994
Location of boat	Lake Monroe, Bloomington IN
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1995
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Absolutly. This is the boat I learned "the ropes" on. I cannot think of a better size to learn on. It was the perfect started boat and I would recommend it to anyone starting out.
Gear that's been added	Autohelm
Structural or complex improvements
The boat's best features	Perfect size for 2 people. The self furling jib was a lifesaver when raising in high winds.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The autohelm would not maintain the correct heading. I set it numerous times, but it was consistantly 50 degrees .
Sailing characterisitcs	It was great. Lake Monroe is not huge, but it was long. This was a good size boat for that lake. Even with light wind, it sailed smoothly and consistantly.
Motoring characterisitcs	a bit noisy, but on the lake I never used the motor more than about 5 minutes at a time. Just to get in and out of the marina.
Liveability	For 2 people on a weekend (even long weekend) it was great. The head was a bit tight for showers, so I used the one at the stern. Two people could probably stay for a week or two with no problem
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any
Other comments	For being the first boat I sailed by myself, I love it. I have since sailed other brands and sizes, but I think I will always like the Catalina best. We recently upgraded to a Catalina 320 (hull 258) and I love it just as much.

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