C&C versus Catalina

[Ardent]

My wife and I are looking at these two manufacturers in the 30-33ft class, just would like to hear opinions contrasting the two from those who know.

I am of the belief that the C&C is the sturdier and more capable boat, am I off base? I am biased towards the C&C's, but would like to learn of each as they are both in our price range.

Cheers!

[BC Mike]

I would buy a C&C, I would not buy a Catalina. I have my reasons. C&C 30 is a popular boat so is the 35.
Michael

[Ardent]

We've been eyeballing the C&C 33 pretty heavily.

[Naughty Cats]

I may be wrong, but I believe the C&C's were built using balsa cores for the hulls as well as unidirectional roving (UDR) in the layup. I do not think Catalina's hulls are cored. The balsa coring and UDR make for a light hull, but should there be serious water intrusion the balsa core could be a problem. I have noticed that older C&C's do go for fairly low prices. Consult an unbiased expert (if there is such a person) before buying.

[BC Mike]

What Joe said. I have been talking about boats in the 36 foot range and listed a bunch the other day. This is what I do not like about a lot of 1970s boats. They are IOR shaped and they have balsa cored decks. I will not buy a boat that is heavily influenced by the IOR rule and I will not buy another balsa cored deck again. So that rules out the C&C35 Mark one and two. I do not know about the C&C 27 30 and 33 with respect to a cored deck. I have made enquiries about an Abbott 36 that has a Kelsegell sp.? cored deck. The IOR shape is used by the S2 36, Pearson 36, and the Tartan 34C and a bunch of others. That's why I keep going back to the Cascade 36. HTH
Michael

[John B]

Just about every boat built by C&C had balsa coring in the decks. I believe C&C were one of the very early adopters and innovators of that construction method. I'm not sure about the later models, but I'm almost 100% certain that the 1970's models had solid core hulls with the possible exception of some custom designed and racing boats.

BTW - deck coring (and delamination) is a known issue on early C&C 27's. It had to do with the deck fittings (mainly stanchions). Later models corrected this problem with redesigned stanchion mounts. This issue is discussed in the C&C 27 class association website.

[Jentine]

Catalina builds as good a boat as any manufacturer. They sail well, have the same Harken, Lewmar, Westerbeke, Edson, Raynav, etc., ect., etc., as any other major manufacturer on the market. The quality of the boats is equal to any other major manufacturer out there. It is the general opinion that if a boat is made by a manufacturer that produces a lot of boats that they take shortcuts to achieve the process and keep the price down.
Just the opposite is true. To keep costs down and manufacture a good product, they must be engineered from the original drawings to the finished product. The internal components require strict manufacturing processes and strict quality control.
If anyone believes that a production manufacturer is producing low quality boats and staying in business they must be a fool. Have Honda, Ford, and Chrysler produced a bad product because they produce millions of cars each year? Absolutely not and neither has Catalina, Beneteau, Jenneau or any of the other production companies.

[Naughty Cats]

Ford, Chrysler, and even Honda (albeit to a lesser extent), have produced some notorious crops of lemons. It's a pretty bad analogy, unless you mean to say these mass-produced boats can also be lemons.

[GordMay]

Here's what they (Catalina) say about themselves:

About Catalina Yachts - from Catalina Yachts
http://www.catalina.com.au/Catalina.htm

Article on Catalina Production ~ from Admiralty Yacht Sales
http://www.ays.com/catart1.htm

[Jentine]

I guess that I should have added Nauticat to the list of mass produced boats. Our neighbors at the marina have had a Nauticat for seven years and have only sailed a total of a few weeks due to constant problems with the boat. All boats have some problems due to poor installation of equipment, poor owner maintenance, improper setup by the dealer, manufacturing error, or a myriad of other problems, but to point out one or several manufacturers as being less qualified than others, you would have to give a strong look at the many manufacturers that no longer produce boats.
That list is much longer than the list of currently produced lemons. Today's manufacturers produce a high quality boat (yours included) but have some problems that are ususally rectified by the dealer at warranty time. Should you find a manufacturer that has never had a claim against him for something that the owner believes to be substandard, you have just found the company that manufactures nothing.

[rakuqueen]

There is a c& c 32 for 30,000 a few slips over. It is listed w/ Inlet Boat Brokers.com

Doesn't seem to be listed on Yacht world

I really don't know anything about it. It showed up one day while we were gone.

[JGI417]

As a Catalina 30 owner, I think i got a lot for my dollar, and yes I know its not a blue water boat, It has a good tech and parts support from the Catalina asso.
I guess it comes down to how much can you spend and how big do you want.
Just my 2 cents