Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 30 by David Stone

Year built	1982
Location of boat	Atlantic City, NJ
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
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	1996
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Most definitely!
Gear that's been added	Autopilot, speedo/depth, new hot water heater, radar, gps units, new vhf, handheld
Structural or complex improvements	no structural improvemnets. Rebuilding atomic-4 one piece at a time.
The boat's best features	Roomy, easy and fun to sail. Anything that breaks is easily fixed. Catalina associations are very helpful
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Atomic-4, but I'm learning. Original CDI furler needs replacement. Minor blister and keel repairs. Seacocks were not used for galley, head, and pump-out outlets, need to be replaced
Sailing characterisitcs	The 30 is very fun and easy to sail. Handles well in most wind speeds. Likes to sail flat, without a lot of heel
Motoring characterisitcs	Reversed is always a guessing game, but handles well everywhere else
Liveability	Very roomy, easy to stay on. Would like to add a/c eventually. Main saloon is very nice for entertaining
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Sandy Hook yacht sales was very helpful
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