Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 25 by D.G. deBroekert

Year built	1990
Location of boat	Westlake, Oregon
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
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	1990
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, very satisfied.
Gear that's been added	Roller furling, addl. sails, dodger, addl. lifelines, VHF radio, compass, knot/log, sounder, CO detector, heater, addl. cabin cabinetwork,solar panel, addl. running
Structural or complex improvements	none
The boat's best features	very pleased with the Universal M-12 engine; the headroom in the saloon, the wing keel and the quality of the hull. In general, the overall quality.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	1.Cockpit locker lids do not clear the back stay. 2. I do not like the pop top and wish the boat did not have it. 3. Anchor well in fordeck is not handy to use. 4. A slight port list that in 98 years I have been unable to correct.
Sailing characterisitcs	Overall, very good. The boat is faster on the port tack. My wing keel and std. rig does not point quite was well as the fin keel and tall rig. When heavily reefed the boat seems to lack power in heavy weather, in comparison to other similar boats I have sailed.
Motoring characterisitcs	Motores well, but has a very significant drift to port when backing down under power.
Liveability	Great, for a 25 footer; much better that almost anyother I have seen. Custom cabin cabinets help. Some ventilation problems.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	No problems at all, but he is now out of business.
Other comments	A really great boat. We keep it in the water 364 days a year and it has been a reliable and steady performer for 8 years. Our next boat may likely be another catalina, but as the style of catalina boats is now less traditional I may look around. A am not too impressed with the current models

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