Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 27 by Craig Cook

Year built	1978
Location of boat	Great Lakes
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	2003
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Very, very doubtful. We bought this boat because of the price....well, that and it seemed like a logical progression. We have owned a C22 and C25. IF I was racing and didn't want to have anything on board, this might be an OK choice. Headroom and interior room is a plus, it sails great, but there are some issues like lack of storage and inherent structural problems.FYI, this is a traditional interior with port and starboard settees and fold down table.If I was to do this again I would look for a C25 fin keel with an outboard motor.
Gear that's been added	No, the boat came very well equipped as far as gear. The PO had updated the sail inventory, ground tackle, head, instruments and so forth.....I have a short list for spring which includes anchor storage on the bow rail and a deck pipe to store the rode forward of the vberth. We will put our faithful Force 10 BBQ on the aft rail.
Structural or complex improvements	YES. The starboard main bulkhead was garbage. There was so much water damage that I had to completely remove and replace it. Main chainplates needed to be upgraded. The machine screws used by the factory sawed their way up through the bulkhead wood. I replaced them all with SS bolts and added aluminum flat stock instead of just washers.Lower shroud eyebolts were junk, needed to be replaced. I chose the "U" bolt alternative, but kept the SS backing plates which I believe were factory. When the eyebolts came out three of the four were bent. This project required a cobalt drill bit to get through the backing plates.
The boat's best features	As I said, the room down below. Headroom, people space in general. The cabin is darn roomy for sitting around. Spare parts are available with no problems. Winter storm winds on the cover broke off a stanchion....I picked one up with only an email message to a supplier. Sails like a freight train on a reach. Very stable and fast.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Everything leaks....absolutely every bit of deck hardware leaks like a sieve. Windows leak, chainplates leak, stanchions leak, mast step leaks, pulpit and pushpit leak, jib car track leaks......I have been working for months on the leaks and have many under control....BUT.Catalina has a very irritating manufacturing process. They break off SS fasteners to length which makes them impossible to remove and replace unless you do so with all new fasteners. Every machine screw used on the deck hardware, even the shroud eyebolts were snapped off to length.Storage in cabin doesn't exist. The entire starboard side of the cabin is tankage. You might be able to fit a couple of towles under the settees. The port settee locker is open, but that's it. There is an enclosed locker under the vberth but it is very small and prone to water. Galley storage is limited to two small drawers and a very small cabinet. There is no place for dishes, glasses, pots, pans, etc. I understand why the PO had netting strung up everywhere. There is no ready access to the thruhull for the galley sink and icebox drain. I will be installing an inspection plate just for that purpose.Inboard motor access is pretty tight....actually, it's tighter than that. Unless you are of slight build with long arms, trying to get to the IB is a hassle. I am curious how you could check and/or replace the exhaust hose.Cockpit lazerette is an odd design. Cockpit drains go directly into this lazerette instead of overboard. All of the water and collected dirt kind of drain into a pan in the lazerette that has a scupper open all the time on the transom. Anyting you put into this deep locker had better be able to be wet all the time.
Sailing characterisitcs	Best part of the boat. Fast, stable, easy to handle. That's what sold us on this boat.
Motoring characterisitcs	Very good. Makes hull speed easily, PO retrofit with an IB diesel instead of the old A4. Diesel is a 12hp but seems to have plenty of power with a 2 blade prop.
Liveability	I wouldn't even begin to try to live aboard this boat. Our C25 had way more potential as far as storage. Vberth is smaller than the C25 as well.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Have dealt with Catalina in the past for spare parts. They are OK, but really don't seem to be set up for owner contact for spare parts. Nothing on their website makes it easy to do anything but look at new boats.Catalina Direct is a better choice for Catalina specifi parts. Catalina Owners has plenty of goodies to add.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	N/A, private owner.
Other comments	My comments are about this year, this model. I understand that things have changed in later models. This WOULD NOT be my choice for a coastal or lake cruising boat. There just isn't enough built in storage. You would have to stack things in the vberth and qberth.Workmanship is not up to either our Catalina 22 or 25.

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