Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 270 by Tom and Toni Dean

Year built	1975
Location of boat	San Diego, CA
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?	Yes. We plan on keeping for a while longer. My wife and I spend each weekend on the boat. We are getting ready to make our fifth trip to Catalina Island for the Catalina Yachts Rendevous in July. We enjoy bay sailing, and open water coastal sailing. We belong to the San Diego Catalina owners assoc. and spend many weekends rafted up with some of our bigger sister boats.
Gear that's been added	Autohelm ST4000, Inside/outside stereo system, 9v tv/vcr, dodger, added additional 12v house battery, preventer, cockpit vhf with separate antenna and power source to back-up the nav station vhf, cockpit canopy, cockpit table, new salon table with fold-up leaves to allow easy access to the v-berth, large drawer beneath the nav station for storage of dishes and large utensils.
Structural or complex improvements	None
The boat's best features	Comfortable for two people for a week or two at a time. Great for pulling into a crowded marina for lunch or impromptu overnite stay and being able to find a spot. Never have second thoughts on taking it the 80 miles to Catalina Island. Easy reefing system, I love the Dutchman flaking system. It is set up for solo sailing which alows my first mate to relax and get in some napping and reading. The roomy cockpit will seat 11 people in a pinch.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Experienced an infant mortality of the Westerbeke fuel lift pump, otherwise trouble-free.
Sailing characterisitcs	Some speed has been sacrificed because of the added beam, but the I wouldn't trade the roomy interior for another 1/2 knot. We have maintained quite controlable/comfortable 7.5 knots for over an hour in the open ocean, although we did get some roostertails off of our stantions.
Motoring characterisitcs	We cruise at 6.3 knots at 2600 rpms burning fuel at a rate of 2.1 ga/hr.
Liveability	Cosy
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Wonderful. Gerry Douglas has answered several technical questions for me during my learning the boat period.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any
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