Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 30 by Matthew Borders

Year built	1990
Location of boat	Colonial Beach, VA
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2006
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, The Catalina 30 is a HUGE 30 foot boat. It has really nice accomidations and it is a very comfortable sailor. I am also impressed that it seems to be able to take some nasty weather without out being damaged.
Gear that's been added	Raymarine S1 Autohelm, GPS.Boat already had:Bimini, dodger, and connectordepthVHFCockpit tableNew Cabin CushionsCockpit Cushions
Structural or complex improvements	So far I haven't had to make any. I had a leaky window on the port side of the boat and I fixed that.
The boat's best features	The room inside the boat is awesome! It is plenty of room for my wife and I.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	I had mentioned earlier that the window on the port side was leaking. Other than that I am fine.
Sailing characterisitcs	This boat loves to reach! She goes to wind okay and sails downwind okay. It is very comfortable and stiff.
Motoring characterisitcs	Motoring is fine. I have a three blade prop and I motor around 5 knots, give or take because of the current. I have had the motor on with the mainsail in 40knot winds and 8 foot seas and it did okay. In heavy seas, going directly into the waves, the boat tends to Hobby horse a little.
Liveability	This boat is very comfortable. It has a lot of room and it has plenty of storage. The icebox works fine and the boat is great undersail or at ancor.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	No Experience
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	I bought the boat through Annapolis Yacht Sales South. I delt with Jonathan. He seemed to be knowledgeable and fair. I would deal with them in the furture and there weren't any big surprises during the purchase.
Other comments	I really like this boat. It is a huge step up from my Hunter 22. This boat is everything that I had hoped and thought that it would be. I feel safe and secure, even in bad weather. I haven't had the boat out for more than 5 days, yet, but I have big plans for it. I am really looking forward to some extended cruising.

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