One of (the?) most popular sailboats ever.
According to Jack Horner:
“... The Catalina 27 is not, nor was it ever intended to be, an around-the-world cruiser. Construction tends to be on the light side. The solid
fiberglass lay-up of the
hull is not overbuilt, particularly above the waterline and may fracture from impacts that would leave a heavier built boat with only a scratch. Early boats lacked proper
backing plates on
hardware, through-hull fittings were poorly installed and secondary bondings of attachments in some cases were poor. Leaking chain plates have caused the bulkheads, to which they are attached, to deteriorate raising the possibility of rig failures.
Fuel tank installations were poor on early inboard models ...”
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BoatUS - Boat Reviews - Catalina 27
According to John Kretschmer:
“... The Catalina 27
hull is solid
fiberglass and the thickness tapers significantly from the waterline up. The
deck is
plywood cored, which is not the best material for the job, although
deck delamination doesn't seem to be the common problem it is on many older boats. Catalina used molded hull and headliners, streamlining the manufacturing process.
I often lament the use of liners in my
reviews because they make it difficult to access the hull and have structural limitations. However, for boats less than 30 feet, they make production sense provided that they are well bonded to the hull. The Catalina 27 was not designed or built to be a
bluewater boat, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Some original construction details are more worrisome than the less than robust scantlings. Early boats were fitted with gate valves on below-the-waterline through-hull fittings and most deck
hardware did not have
backing plates. It is likely that these shortcomings have been addressed by owners along the way. The ballast is external and the iron
keel bolts should be carefully examined. The ballast-to-displacement ratio is more than 40 percent ...”
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Catalina 27