SOMEONE
ASKED ME the other day what I think of the Catalina 27. "I've heard it's
lightly built and not very seaworthy," he said.
Well, I had
to admit I rarely think about the Catalina 27, but when I do, I recollect that
there are good reasons why it's one of the most popular small sailboats in the
United States.
She was
designed and built by Southern Californian Frank Butler, and well over 6,000
have been built. She's a fin-keeler with
a raked, detached rudder well aft, and a masthead sloop rig. But she was never designed for sea work, and
never pretended to be. Early boats lacked backing plates on deck hardware,
stanchions, and rails, so that the gelcoat flexed and cracked quickly. Through-hull
fittings were simple gate valves screwed onto pipe nipples glassed into the
hull. Spreader sockets were made of cast aluminum, which fractured when
overstressed. And so on.
On the other
hand, this boat has more headroom and interior space than almost any other 27-footer
on the market. In fact, she has about the maximum amount of interior room you
could possibly cram into a 27-footer — and the trick that made it all work was
the cunning design of her curved topsides.
She doesn't look boxy or ugly.
Newcomers to
sailing didn't have to pay BMW prices for their Volkswagen boats. They rightly
perceived them to be good value for money and well suited to the job this boat
was expected to do: family racing and weekend cruising, with the odd short
coastal passage thrown in.
Catalina 27s
come with inboard engines or outboard engines, and if your sailing area allows
you to use one, an outboard engine has many advantages, starting with price and
easy maintenance.
Despite the
fact that she was designed for inshore work, several Catalina 27s have made circumnavigations. "We don't recommend using the boat this
way, " Practical Sailor magazine
once commented, "but it goes to show that good preparation and seamanship may
be more important than your boat when it comes to successful offshore
voyaging."
Patrick
Childress, of Newport, Rhode Island, was one of those circumnavigators and he
told me he installed chainplates on the outer hull for the aft lower shrouds.
"I used to watch the side decks flexing, and it was scary," he said.
He first tried installing backing plates twice as large and thick as the
originals, but that only threatened to pull out a larger chunk of the side
deck.
Nevertheless,
Childress sailed around the world in three years, experienced no major problems
with the boat, and returned safely to the United States. That has to say
something for Frank Butler and his Catalina 27.
Today's Thought
The sea is only safe and harmless as long as
the ship is safe and seaworthy and ably handled.
— Felix
Riesenberg
Tailpiece
When the
living room sofa is a hive of activity, you can be sure there's a little honey
around.
(Drop by
every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)
1 comment:
Good stuff John. If you're looking for practical, affordable, reliable fun on the water you can do MUCH worse than the C27. Another bonus to C27 ownership is the vast and knowledgeable support community. Frankly, more needs to be written about the ageing older boats that many of us spend much time aboard.
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