Association Forum - Practical Sailor's assessment of Catalina owners

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Practical Sailor's assessment of Catalina owners

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Lee Panza
Captain

Member Avatar

USA
468 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/15/2013 : 09:23:32

This just in...

Practical Sailor has done an evaluation of three coastal-cruisers (31'-32' range), and they made the following observation:

"An interesting aside: We learned in talking with builders and dealers that they know their market, including personality types, and the likely use of the boats. By their accounts, Catalina owners are more likely to sail, and work on, their boats; Hunter owners are more likely to use the boats for dockside entertainment, and reach for a credit card when repairs are to be made. Beneteau owners seem to fall somewhere in between."

They could have been listening to the participants in this forum!

The trouble with a destination - any destination, really - is that it interrupts The Journey.

Lee Panza
SR/SK #2134
San Francisco Bay
(Brisbane, CA)

Edited by - on

Sam001
Vice Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
441 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2013 : 10:00:24

and reading the tech tips!

Edited by - on

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1511 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2013 : 16:10:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Hunter owners are more likely to use the boats for dockside entertainment, <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Could it be... that they don't sail... all that well......

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2013 : 19:59:25

In fairness, Hunter has some impressive interiors for their class, very competitive prices, and let's say "creative" exterior styling that appeals the way a Regal appeals...

Catalina buyers recognize the higher-quality hardware and equipment, better interior storage, more solid feel, more solid rig, slightly more traditional styling, and better reputation among sailors.

Bendy-Toy buyers are somewhere in between, with more feet per dollar...

Then, when a Hunter owner decides to "retire" to something that doesn't even pretend to require sail handling and such, they retire to a Regal. Catalina owners retire to a traditional trawler or lobster yacht. Bendy-Toy owners hang onto their huge Bendies and show them to people. ("That 55-footer on the mooring out there is ours.")

I'm just speaking from personal observations...

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 05/15/2013 20:01:16

sailboat
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
149 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 10:14:33

Hmmm. I own a Hunter, bought it new 10 years ago (and have had no trouble), and have helped my son and daughter restore a 1980 Cat 25. Because I could never afford a Hinckley or a Mason the only boats I ever looked at were Hunters and Catalinas. I was reintroduced to sailing 30 years ago when a friend of mine had us out one summer evening on the St. John's River in Jacksonville, Fl in their Cat-22. It was an "aha" moment. I salivated over a Cat 30 and studied the brand new H-25s and 27s at Whitney's Sail Center in Orange ark Fl. I saw C-36 hull number 1 or 2 at the Newport RI boat show in 1983. I saw C-42 hull number 1 at the st Petersburg boat show in 1988 or 9. I loved the Catalinas...and still do.

As my wife and I toured the boats we thought that the Hunter interiors just did not seem to age or wear. An important consideration since we had four children. Also, a boat that cost 2-3 times more than a comparable Hunter or Catalina would not sail 2-3 times faster, cook steaks any faster, or even be that much more comfortable. Plus our dockmates had Hunters and obviously extolled their virtues.

Hunter and Catalina having weathered tough economic times since opening their doors are servicing their customers better than the probably hundreds of of other boat companies that have closed.

The terrific thing about our Cat-25, "Chariots of Fire" is the availability of parts still available for a 32 year old boat. Try getting parts for a 32 year old car, if it even still runs.

What's a Regal? LOL.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 10:29:23

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by sailboat
 Hmmm. I own a Hunter...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Hi Mike... Of course, we're stereotyping here. There are always exceptions, and anyway, you, of course, are a Catalina guy! (Heck--I'm now a $+!nkp*++er. Talk about stereotypes!)

Edited by - on

jimhart
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
30 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 12:55:30

Not very hard to find parts for a 40 year old TR-6. It has not been restored but is a "driver" that still runs and looks good. Mostly driven from my house to the boat on weekends. Let's see a 40 year old car and a 31 year old boat. My wife will not let me have any new toys.

Edited by - on

sailboat
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
149 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 13:38:40

Speaking of working on the Catalina, the restoration continues. This weekend we hope to get the fuel tank hatch refastened, replace the inoperative macerator with a manual pump (since the boat only has one battery and the engine has no alternator), clean the cockpit teak and hatchboards then coat with Cetol natural teak, and get the name decals installed. It is just a great boat. No wonder CAtalina made a million of them. And a real testimony to the lasting power of a "cheap" production boat.

My son tried the new roller furling with the new 135 jib last week and as someone wise person on this forum once said, it was a life changing event.

Mike
1980 Cat-25 SR/SK dinette interior

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

Members Avatar

USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 14:18:32

I remember when Hunter tipped the scale their way. Design and build quality comparable to Cats with more elegance. Convenience and dockside comfort can be quite important, depending on how you use your boat. Different strokes I guess, but they are all valid. I'll stick to raggers with back stays

Edited by - on

sailboat
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
149 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 14:49:29

Edited by - on

sethp001
Mainsheet C-25 Tech Editor

Members Avatar

814 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2013 : 18:29:45

I thought the Beneteau owners wrote a check.

Edited by - on

Stu Jackson C34
Admiral

Members Avatar

844 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2013 : 10:15:08

I think part, if no even all, of it comes from forums such as this one, and the C34 and C36 websites and forums. Not many other one-design groups, especially other vendors, have these kind of volunteer resources available. Some do Yahoo or Google groups, but I find that as cumbersome as going back to the days of the old list servers, where if you wanted to keep the information you had to cut & paste it into your own computer, and searching wasn't an option. If there's nowhere to go to find answers to basic, recurring and/or unique questions, it's hard for folks to either write their solutions up or even ask the questions.

That said, even before PS's article, I had that impression. Perhaps it's because Catalina built boat where you could actually get to things, almost everything in fact. We once had a very nice Beneteau in the BVIs, where to check the oil and find the dipstick you had to almost completely disassemble the entire aft cabin! On my boat, I open a little door, and there's the dipstick.

I suggest to folks looking for new-to-them bigger boats: "Check the dipstick. If you can't find it, guess what the PO did for daily oil level checks?"

Edited by - on

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2013 : 13:11:01

This is a great forum and that's one of the reasons why I still check back in. I also still sail on a Catalina 25 about as often as I sail on my new boat.

However I've found good forums for other boats too. The Pearson 28 group is on Yahoo Groups, but since it only covers a couple hundred boats instead of maybe 8k like this one I think that makes sense. Yahoo Groups search isn't great, but it is functional. The people there are great and helpful. There is no Catalina Direct equivalent for my Pearson, but it also uses more standard hardware (for instance ports are made by Beckson, spars by Isomat, standing rigging by Navtec) so there is little that is hard to find anyway.

Ericson Yachts struck me as another brand that had a great and knowledgeable forum. I spent time there when considering buying an Ericson 25+ before purchasing my Catalina 25. They hang out on http://www.ericsonyachts.org/home.php

I've never considered owning a Hunter or Bene, so I can't comment on how their forums or mailing lists might be.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.