Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 320 by Mike Price

Year built	1995
Location of boat	Batemans Bay, Australia
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	Yes
Owner bought the boat in	2003
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Very pleased with its condition
Gear that's been added	Autohelm sail
Structural or complex improvements	Self tacking jib for short handed use in Sydney harbour where the traffic gets very congested.
The boat's best features	Stable, comfortable living and very seaworthy in the heavy swells we get along the south east coast of Australia.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The tackle is a little light for our conditions. I will be upgrading it considerably.
Sailing characterisitcs	Docile in up to 25 Kt winds, Over 30 Kt needs reefing. Over 40 Kt...head for shelter.
Motoring characterisitcs	Adequate in up to 4-5 Kt frontal tides.Everyone mechanical seems to like working on Yanmars.
Liveability	Great, but one definitely needs supplemental electricity generation. Naturally we added the items mentioned earlier but are still considering a wind generator for those rainy days.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Very good in Sydney. Have had little need to use them.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Felt I had paid too much at the time, my heart over-ruked the brain. But in retrospect it was worth every dollar.
Other comments	In a word...happy as a pig in mud!