Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 25 by Tony Russell

Year built	1978
Location of boat	Ventura, CA
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1994
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Maybe.Good sailing for the buck. Mine is fixed keel and keeps her cool in up to 25Kt if reefed. Had her in some pretty ugly water without taking water aboard,other than spray and splash. I'm 66 and have no problem single handing her. I teach on 30's and can see areas where I may have problems that I don't on the 25. DO sometimes wish it were a 27' though. Not crazy about the pop top. Make adequate double bed with table down.Use a foam sheet to soften cushions(Old bones.) Biggest gripe was main sheet to transome. Not anymore (See below). Have 9.8 Merc.Ok forward but couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding in reverse. Going to explore different prop. Rigging could be more robust.
Gear that's been added	Down-hauls on main and jib to cockpit. Jiffy reef (Single line) to cockpit. Topping lift and foreguy (Also used as jib downhaul) for spinnaker pole. Spinnaker from a Shields. Heavy weather jib(Staysail from larger cutter), genoa (135%), genniker(head sail from a furling rig off a 30'). Loran, GPS, depth (When it works).
Structural or complex improvements	After putting up with the mainsheet going to the transome for about five years and spending some time trimming on a friends PT 30, I built a full cockpit width traveller and moved the boom attachment forward about 3'. Best thing that ever happened to a 25' Cat and would work on a 27' too. Yes, it helps to move it over for cabin access or egress. Easily done .Besides, are you sailing or running some nefarious enterprise?
The boat's best features	Value. Well built,affordable, pretty capable boat for the money. Ain't no Swan but it will get many of us on the water before we win the lottery in relative safety. Fixed keel appears to be the way to go. Can still be trailered but a sling needed to launch usually.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Main sheet location(See above). Seats and anchor locker cover need to be thicker/stronger to prevent gelcoat cracking. Rigging a bit on the light side though I have only had one shroud fail.Have constant problems with exterior lights due to corrosion.Cheap fixtures in my opinion.
Sailing characterisitcs	Not too brilliant in light air or beating into chop. Loves nice big swells in 10Kt winds. Think reef at anything above 15Kt. She goes just as fast and is better company. Bit more leeway than I appreciate in light air.
Motoring characterisitcs	My OB, a 9.8 Merc is useless in reverse and, being a standard shaft, isn't much good in a sea of as little as 2'. Otherwise, it is pretty reliable. Boat does about 4.5Kt. at cruise.
Liveability	Pretty good. V birth is pretty much a wharehouse.No holding tank has me heading for the 3 mile limit in a hurry sometimes but it's one less thing to worry about.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Satisfactory. Staff courteous and knowledgeable.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	N/A.
Other comments	Wish it was a Hans Chritian but it isn't and she serves me well within the small budget I allocate to therepudic pursuits.

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