Catalina 36 mk 1...any views?

[NealB]

Asking for a good friend (yeah...honest).

Are these boats well built, with good quality fittings? Any known common problems? How do they sail?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[short-handed]

Catalina are a well resourced and very popular boat with a wide range of models. I say "well resourced" in that there are a number of forums and support groups for owners and the company is renowned for providing excellent customer service, no matter how old the boat.

Here's a link that your friend may like. http://www.c36ia.com/forums/

I suspect though, that if he (or she) has done any research then they'll know this anyway. Being American in design they cater mainly for the weekend sailor whole likes marinas and the social aspects of sailing.

From what I've read owners of the older boats, say, mid 80s, speak very highly of the boats.

My only concerns would be their suitability for serious blue water sailing. I'm looking a purchasing a 36 MkII here in Australia but intend to go coastal cruising. Recently sold my Catalina 22.

 

[jwilson]

Asking for a good friend (yeah...honest).

Are these boats well built, with good quality fittings? Any known common problems? How do they sail?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Not sailed a 36 but done a lot of miles on a 42, which was in my opinion not pretty but sailed surprisingly well. Nothing felt flimsy (unlike US Hunters, which although I almost bought one once do have some slightly bendy bits - though that was not what stopped me buying). Construction of Catalinas low tech but nothing wrong with that, and on the 42 decent quality fittings were used. The only problems we had were related to non-Catalina add-ons such as the genset.

One annoyance on the 42 was that it had a T-shaped cockpit well, and if you drove the boat hard enough to get green water over the deck the aft lee corner of the T would collect a couple of bucketfuls of water that would not drain, except by slopping up and through the corner of the locker lid, from whence it found its way below into the hull (into the foot of the quarterberth and hence to the bilges). On the whole though I liked the Cat 42, and have looked at 36s at boat shows and liked them too.

 

[30boat]

I saw one being built on TV and didn't like what I saw.It was probably a 32.The hull has a liner that takes the furniture and bulkheads as well as the keel loads.If the liner delaminates or the hull is holed repairs will be almost impossible or at least very expensive.

 

[Salty John]

Moderately light displacement, moderately light construction. Sails well. Shallow bilge. Many layout options, some good some bad. The one I'm most familiar with had two swivelling mini-armchairs to port and a small dinette to starboard. Different.
Several keel options, also.
Earlier ones had rudder problems. There's a very active Catalina group so lots of info available on line.

 

[alant]

Asking for a good friend (yeah...honest).

Are these boats well built, with good quality fittings? Any known common problems? How do they sail?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Catalina's are the US equivalent of a Westerly & moderate to heavy build, not a light build AWB.

Southern sailing (John Goode) used to have a Catalina 34 (may still have it), which was long in tooth, but still heavily used as a school boat. I took a 42' down to Gibraltar some years ago, had a fully battened main with in boom reefing & sailed extremely well. Large party cockpit & bridge deck quite low, so potentially water could get inside unless bottom washboard secured when at sea (something I insisted on).

 

[nimrod1230]

I have sailed with and on a 36 Mk2 for the last 6/7 years. The boat was reviewed in Sailing Today about 3 years ago and although some finer points were missed it gave a reasonably accurate account of the boat. Sails very well with top quality blocks and deck gear. Points better than it should with shallow draft wing keel. The accomodation is very clever packing a lot of comfort and practicality into a 36 foot hull. Overall, very impressed for the price.

 

[jwilson]

I saw one being built on TV and didn't like what I saw.It was probably a 32.The hull has a liner that takes the furniture and bulkheads as well as the keel loads.If the liner delaminates or the hull is holed repairs will be almost impossible or at least very expensive.

Try and find a mass production boat now that doesn't have a GRP inner liner - they are getting rarer and rarer.

 

[NealB]

Many thanks...I'll pass it on.