Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina Capri-16.5 by David Heebner

Year built	2000
Location of boat	Parking Lot
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2001
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Maybe...
Gear that's been added	I changed out the hardware for the hiking straps because that was an accident waiting to happen. From the dealer, the boat came with a loop in the strap passed through a flat metal bar and a fluted dowel was inserted through the loop. You can tighten the flat bar onto the strap, but this was hokey to say the least. Needless to say they worked their way loose and I could just see them coming out when hiked out. Instead I used short lengths of PVC pipe to create rollers and bought some 2" webbing buckles to keep the straps tied tight to the PVC rollers. Hasn't loosened at all and I can also easily adjust the straps.
Structural or complex improvements	Nope...
The boat's best features	Wide beam makes it a bit harder to knockdown. Cockpit is roomy. Foreward locker is watertight (mostly) and is roomy enough for tons of gear. Furling jib makes rigging, docking easy, etc.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Manual is incomplete. Siderail fiberglass is spiderweb-cracking from weight of being hiked out. Centerboard well is level with cockpit floor and under moderate to heavy winds water flows in at a pretty good rate - previous reviewer says he fixed the gasket with a better material so I'll have to try that. I've lost two battens so far as they work themselves out of the pockets.
Sailing characterisitcs	This boat is easy to rig and fun to sail. 15mph winds or less and the boat is a dream. She heels well and is stable. However, most of the lakes I sail at experience gusts and crosswinds and that's when she gets to be a handfull. She doesn't point into the wind very well and under gusts and cross winds the rudder has stalled on me a couple of times.As long as the wind is steady I love sailing her, though.
Motoring characterisitcs	No motor...
Liveability	Well, I suppose you could stay in the foreward locker, but the smell of the fiberglass would eventually overtake you...
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Wonderful. They've been great.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Very good.
Other comments	My first Catalina and they seem like well constructed craft, but some details could have been better...

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