Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 25 by Alan Clark

Year built	1987
Location of boat	St. Marys, Ohio
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2003
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, We looked for a year and a half for the Catalina to meet our specs. Tall Rig, Swing keel,we wanted wing keel, shore power,marine head,hank on sails-we have 5 of them, all with dedicated sheets-from storm jib to 170%, so far we have used them ALL.
Gear that's been added	We have added an wooden countertop over the non pressurized alcohol stove that is removabile. A clock and barometer, an extra entrance door to the storage area below the vee berth, removed the carpet (even after cleaning was nasty),Added a light on the port side bulkhead near where the table is stored-night light vision,replaced lines and halyards. Put in wood book rack against the starboard bulkhead. Just forward of the stove area on the port side rail we also had a storage area put in to store dry goods/plates etc.
Structural or complex improvements	None
The boat's best features	Easy to sail, Well Made and forgiving, Large cockpit, Lots of interior room, We moved up from a Catalina 22. Easy to single hand and sails well in heavy wind, which we love to sail in! My wife and I have sailed this boat by ourselves and have raced it. We also have gone for a day sail with 10 friends on board and there was room for all.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Only thing we would change is we would opt for the wing keel, though swing keel is great when we can drop it down all the way, we sail in a shallow lake. The swing keel allegedly points better than the wing and is faster though requires more maintaince.
Sailing characterisitcs	Sails well in all wind speeds but prefers heavy air, we got the tall Rig, by design, so we reef early but can move well in light air.We are looking forward to many years with "Leprechaun" as we ghad our Catalina 22 for 9 years. We are only the 3rd owner of "Leprechaun".
Motoring characterisitcs	Boat motors well, when we motor..We bought the sailboat to SAIL.
Liveability	Boat is laid out nice in the interior except as is with all boats "Leprechaun" could use more storage. But we have made for future storage ideas when we travel with the boat. We sleep well in the vee berth and also under the cockpit berth. Port and starboard settees are for kids.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	We bought "Leprechaun" from a broker at Lighthouse landing,Grand Rivers ,KY. We were comfortable with the expierence and felt they were honest with us.
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