Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 310 by John J

Year built	2000
Location of boat	Atlanta
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	2000
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. We went to the boat show to look at the new hunter 290, and fell in love with the 310. Hands down a better boat. (hull #23)
Gear that's been added	Speed, Depth, Wind, Canvas Package, BiminiStereo
Structural or complex improvements	Not yet, and hopefully won't have to
The boat's best features	Very well thought out layout. Very roomy for 31"Good hardware for a production boat. Are pleased with the Catalina Sails. Huge cockpit. Like the swim platform, when the dogdays of summer hit the south, it's time to hit the water, and access and ladder make this very easy.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	So far the wind machine (ST60) has not worked from day one. (dealer will fix so should not be an issue)Would replace the main cam cleat with a clutch. The material they put on the companionway steps gets very hot in the sun.
Sailing characterisitcs	From dead calm to 20+Handles very well, points well. There is some weather helm, but not enough to be bothersome. The wheel gives feedback to what is going on, and I like that
Motoring characterisitcs	Turns on a dime. Going forward you can turn it on it's keel. In reverse it takes a little distance before the rudder bites. We had an outboard before (hunter 260) so it is probably just us getting used to some different charcheteistics.
Liveability	So far so good.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Have sent one e-mail and had a response the same day.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	I have had the fortune or misfortune of living a number of places. One thing is consistent. Dealers are generally very nice people who like what they are doing, but work at a different pace than the people who are buying their boats.
Other comments	This is our third boat. A 1978 Catlaina 25, a 1998 hunter 260, and the 310. We thought we were upgrading to the 260, but after 2 years we needed a change. The 310 is a damn nice boat for it's size and price. We are very glad to back into a Catalina.

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