Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 22 by Scott Sauve

Year built	1989
Location of boat	Waukegan, IL
The boat is sailed on	The Great Lakes
How the boat is used	Day sailing
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 is a good boat for the money, and with a little attention, she is shaping up nicely.
Gear that's been added	Updating roller furling in 2003 along with a 135% genoa. Have added tiller extension, AC shore power, GPS/Depth sounder, Adjustable backstay, Battery recharger.
Structural or complex improvements	Just updated the standing rigging, replaced all stays. Anything over 10 years old should be suspect. No structure problems noted to date, hull is solid as a rock, no blisters
The boat's best features	She sails upwind well. I am happy to see how well she sails and her speed even with 13year old sails, cant wait until next year with some new cloth. Handles significant waves well, dry boat. She also handles a wide range of wind conditions with little trouble. In 20+ knots of wind, 150% genoa and full main we could not get the leeward rail consistently wet. Not a fast or confortable way to sail, but it helped us define the limits of the boat (Wing keel)
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Just the running rigging. We will replace next year. Internal outhaul, Install a topping lift, 1st reef led back to the cockpit, Boom vang led back to the cockpit.The motor mount is too low. Wend lowered, the motor mounting plate just touches the water. The boat came with a Honda 8hp 4-cycle engine. It may be a little heavy for the boat. We will reposition the motor mount in the spring to make it better
Sailing characterisitcs	In light or strong wind the wing keel does well. She slide a little more to leeward than a deeper keel would. The only wind/sea condition that is difficult to manage is in light wind with a fair amount of wave action. The boat is light and tends to bob on the water, slapping the sales due to enhanced mast travel due to the wave action.
Motoring characterisitcs	No problems. Moves smartly with the 8hp engine. As mentioned above, motor mount is a littl low and concerns me when motoring in a folowing sea.
Liveability	Confined. OK for 2 adults and a couple of small children. Good to stay overnight but not for extended cruising.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	NA
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	NA
Other comments	Great first boat, or for those of us that have kids in Ivy League schools with Ivy League tuitions.

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