Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 27 by Ken Burridge

Year built	1974
Location of boat	St. Petersburg, FL
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2000
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, I bought it for it's lack of woodWORK and associated slave labor. I had a 1930, 22 Square meter wooden sloop before this and the wood was a bear to maintain. The 27 Catalina is a fun boat and has required very little maintenance. Maybe more than I gave it.
Gear that's been added	I built an aluminum engine mount for the outboard. It bolts to the transom and extends about 3' from the back of the boat. It has a bait well, hyd. tilt and room enough to stand on either side of the motor which is handy for changing the spark plugs or geting into or out of the boat from the water. I increased the motor to a new 15 HP Honda ($3650) but it sucked (oil). When healed over the Honda allowed oil to get into the bottom cylinder fouling out the spark plug. I sold it and went back to my 9.9 Johnson but am currently looking for a larger horse power long shaft 2 cycle motor. I'd never put another 4 cycle on a sailboat unless it was a catamarine. The oil problem didn't show up until we were 100 miles off shore in the Gulf of Mexico. Honda service also gave me greif and told me I shouldn't tip the motor in that one direction. I guess you can only tack in one direction. Their solution "use hotter plugs and see if it will burn the oil that comes into the cylinder". On the bright side the Honda was easy to sell as their short comings haven't caught up with their hype (yet).I've also added GPS, Fish Finder, solar panels, Bimini and a Propane stove.
Structural or complex improvements	The motor mount mentioned above and I just found my port bulk head is rotted. I will have to replace the bulk head before I take it out again.
The boat's best features	Low maintenance, Ease of sailing and lots of room for storage.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The V-Bunk is too small for two people (almost too small for one), The mast support between the galley and head comes to about the middle of my forehead and makes the 6' head room only 5'7" I'm thinking of padding this as I seem to hit my head on it atleast once per trip. You'd think I'd learn and duck.
Sailing characterisitcs	Not very good in light air. Great in 10K and better. In heavy seas and light air it will stall when taking the waves near head on and requires the use of the motor providing the plug isn't fouled out at the time.
Motoring characterisitcs	Great forward except in waves over 6' then the outboard motor comes out of the water when it crests the waves. It did this before I added the new motor mount also.Backing can be a problem unless the tiller on the outboard motor is used with the boat tiller tied amidship. Then its a breeze.
Liveability	My wife, son and I have spent weekends on it with moderate comfort. The Dinette is almost a double bed and is far better than the V berth. The port bunk is the most comforable and easier to get into than the starboard. I wish the V berth was about a foot longer. Also there is no privacy in the head. It's not really ment for long passages but is great for weekend gunkholing. I am sailing it to Mexico in the coming year and after that I'm sure I might a change my mind on its liveability. The trip will be just guys and roughing it is part of the experience. As long as the beer holds out they wont complain much.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Never have.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Private sale.
Other comments	It's a great 27 foot production boat. "I am what I am says Popeye the Sailor man" and so is the 27 Catalina, cheap, good sailing, fast and sturdy.

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