Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 27 by Paul Emley

Year built	1974
Location of boat	Vancouver, B.C., Canada
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
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	2000
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Absolutely
Gear that's been added	Lots on the "things to do list" but nothing yet except a hand held GPS
Structural or complex improvements	New thru hulls
The boat's best features	Ease of sailing for beginneer, interiour room for size of boat, low cost of ownership.Huge owner network is great source of infomation for new sailors
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Dodger has seen better days, need to replace it.Cushions were shot when I bought, replaced them
Sailing characterisitcs	Forgiving but fun
Motoring characterisitcs	Uneventful, 5.5 knots cruise on an 8 HP honda Outboard
Liveability	6 people for a day, 4 people for a weekend and 2 people for a week or longer
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Surprisingly good. Compared to car dealers, I found brokers to be knowledgeable and helpful rather then pushy and obnoxious.
Other comments	If you're looking for a great first boat with useable space below decks and a great owners network, it would hard to find something better then a C27.