Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 400 by Tim Leighton

Year built	2002
Location of boat	Norfolk, VA
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	2002
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. It isn't a passagemaker, and would require extensive interior modifications to live aboard, but it is great for what (I believe) it was designed for: A fast, comfortable coastal cruiser with plenty of room and a large enough cockpit for lounging and group partying.
Gear that's been added	Total electronics package including AWI, RayMarine chartplotter/radar. Airconditioning, Bose stereo system w/ cabin & cockpit speakers (great!). Inverter (needed it for the blender!).
Structural or complex improvements	No major changes yet, but plan to install better shelving throughout the boat to improve stowage.
The boat's best features	Performs extremely well under sail, despite our selection of in-mast roller furling main. Roomy interior. HUGE cockpit. Good job on interior joinery.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	"Defect" list is fairly long...but I'm very picky and spend a lot of time on attention to detail. Having said that here are some of the manufacturing problems we had followed by some of the design concerns I've voiced: Leaky water lines. Non-existent hose clamps on some hoses. Inability of water pump to maintain prime. Water tank clean-out plug leaks. Holding tank vent lines WAY too long, not led correctly and, in one case, not connected to hull fitting! We are getting some head odors inside cabin as result of poor holding tank/head piping design. Construction debris throughout the interior below deck pan. Even found a couple tools! Airconditioning poorly installed at plant. Catalina informs me that they are going "in house" for these systems and promise future hulls will be installed much better. Design concerns: Cleat placement causes dock lines to chafe (especially to floating docks). Catalina is going to raise the cleats to help here. No "doggie door" to prevent loss of cockpit items out of stern like most other models have. Poor design of trash can door. This has also been fixed by Catalina. Aft shrouds impact on use of perch seats. No foam luff in jib. Not enough shelves in lockers. Poor engine compartment soundproofing. Engine servicing is going to be interesting. You have to actually remove one engine mount to service the raw water impeller! Would like larger fuel tank. Engine uses about 1 gph and w/ 44 gal tank, that limits cruising range a bit.
Sailing characterisitcs	Super! With a in-mast roller furling main, we don't point quite as well as other boats, but the 400 is plenty fast if you foot off a bit. Don't have a spinnaker, but plan to get one next summer to increase the fun! Far stiffer than I expected in a breeze (>18 kts). Don't have to reef (not hard w/ roller furling!) until well over 20 kts!
Motoring characterisitcs	LOUD! Having shouted that, the Yanmar (56 hp) pushes the boat along at almost 8 kts (8.5 kts is hull speed) in flat water at just under 3000 rpm. Still figuring out fuel consumption at that speed but I'm guessing just over 1 gph. Handles well under power. Backs to port (no surprise) but once you get a bit of sternway, she is very controllable. Turns on a dime in forward.
Liveability	Good. Wish we had more shelves in cabin (we're going to fix that this winter). Would rather have had one large head. Excellent cabin layout. Lots of room.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Very good. I've corresponded directly with both Frank Butler and Jerry Douglas and been extremely satisfied with their responses to my questions and requests.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Chesapeake Yacht Sales in Deltaville, VA. Very happy with them. Mine was the first "large" Catalina they'd sold for many years (the old dealer wasn't really interested in selling boats that much) and we had a few delivery glitches, but they've responded very well. I would certainly recommend them to any mid-Chesapeake Bay buyer.
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