Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 38 by Brian Warren

Year built	1980
Location of boat	Port Huron, Michigan
The boat is sailed on	The Great Lakes
How the boat is used	Racing
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	5-6
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2000
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	I'd buy this boat again in a min.
Gear that's been added	New sails, ST60 instruments.
Structural or complex improvements	Built new aluminum clamps for the end of the lower spreaders.
The boat's best features	The best feature would have to be seaworthyness. Twice caught in northern Lake Huron in sharp 8'+ waves, 30+ winds and sailed for hours w/o problems.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The engine, espically the fuel system, is showing its age. Hard starting problems, and he ocaisional air bubble that needs to be purged from the injector pump. 1500 hours on engine.
Sailing characterisitcs	Responds well on the wind but shows weakness beyond 100 deg apparent. Needs a 155% genoa or spinnaker after 100.
Motoring characterisitcs	.75 to 1 gallon per hour at 6kts. The Universal Diesel is a real noise maker. At least 3 twenty hour trips to northern Lake Huron running engine nonstop without trouble. 18 gal tank requires additional cans for crusing.
Liveability	Great for 3 0r 4 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	Broker (Brennan Marine Bay City, Mi) a huge help getting under way spring of 2000.
Other comments	At first I thought the narrow cockpit would be a problem but it works well sailing. I have a hard time imagining a better boat for the money to suit my racing and crusing needs.

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