In
the hybrid world of yacht marketing, it's easy
to get confused. Marketers and salespeople like
to spread their message to all parts of the
yachting fraternity to get the biggest bang for
their marketing buck.
Consequently it's sometimes hard to get a clear
idea of what the designers originally intended
the boat to do. Some boats are called
racer/cruisers and some are cruiser/racers,
while others call themselves racers with a
cruising fitout - the list goes on.
But not at Catalina.
Catalina yachts, according to Pier 35 Boatsales'
Tom Clynes, are neither racer/cruisers nor
cruiser/racers. No sir, Catalinas are cruisers
and proud of it.
And when the hype and marketing rhetoric is
gone, it's refreshing to have a salesperson look
you in the eye and say: "We build cruising
yachts - and damn good ones."
Clynes maintains that because Catalina
concentrates on the cruising market, it is
better able to focus on what constitutes a good
cruiser. It has to be seaworthy, it has to be
well equipped and, above all, it has to be
comfortable.
The new 387 is all of this.
Tom and I picked an absolute cracker of a
Melbourne day to put the Catalina theory to the
test. We both made no plans for the afternoon
and took the 387 out for a cruise to nowhere.
The only plans we had were to hang around long
enough for Trade-A-Boat's photographer Ellen
Dewar to take some pics and then we could do as
we pleased.
Unfortunately, Hewie the weather god didn't
quite see it our way; the seabreeze didn't kick
in until the photo boat was docked back at Pier
35, so the photos don't really indicate what a
great sail we had - but suffice to say our day
just kept getting better.
HIGH VOLUME
The 387 is a big-volume boat. The name bears
scant resemblance to the actual dimensions of
the boat, which give its LOA as 39ft 10in or
12.14m. It has a 12ft 4in or 3.76m beam that it
carries well aft, allowing for a big owner's
cabin below the cockpit.
The jury's still out on the aft cabin, which -
although it gives room to sit up in bed to read
a book - is still low. There is an access door
from the cabin to the big central bathroom that
includes a full shower stall, electric loo with
macerater pump and holding tank as well as a
vanity and sink. The bathroom can also be
accessed from a door opposite the galley.
The galley itself is a very workable affair with
a stainless-steel double sink, three-burner gas
stove, front-opening fridge that can also be
accessed from the top, and plenty of cupboard
space.
Throughout the galley, saloon and front cabin,
there is 6ft 9in of headroom, which enhances the
feeling of spaciousness.
To
port in the saloon is a comfortable lounge with
a good-sized table that doesn't intrude past the
centreline of the boat. To starboard there are
two lounge chairs with a table between them.
This can be lowered and, with an infill cushion,
can be converted into a bed or full-length
lounge. The forward cabin is light and airy
thanks to the good use of hatches and ports.
The overall feeling down below is of space and
light, with good use of soft colourings and
light teak finishes.
ON DECK
Up on deck, space is also abundant. The cockpit
is big enough for five or six and the integrated
pushpit seats will cater for two more.
Two very deep lazarettes will swallow all the
gear you need to take for a holiday and would be
the perfect spot to store your deflated tender,
while the standard outboard motor bracket
further points to the cruising heritage of the
Catalina.
The big Edson Diamond Series pedestal houses all
the instruments including the optional
chartplotter on the test boat and a full set of
engine gauges - a most welcome addition.
I
paid particular attention to the deck hardware,
which was all top quality and very strong. A
stainless solid boom vang and a lovely traveller
system came in for plenty of discussion.
The rig is masthead with a tallish (17.07m)
twin-spreader mast. A fully-battened main and
135 per cent genoa are the standard sails.
All halyards and lines lead aft and are housed
in cabin-top bags. Halyard winches are Harken
B32.2 self tailers with the option of a Harken
electric winch in lieu of the main-halyard winch
on the port cabin top.
The primaries are Harken B48.2 self-tailing,
which makes fairly light work of getting the big
headie in.
There's no spinnaker winches but the boat does
come with a kite halyard that Tom says he's
going to employ for a genniker.
SOME BREEZE, PLEASE!
During our period of virtually calm conditions,
we got to give the engine a good workout.
Standard fitment is a 40hp three-cylinder Yanmar
that will go through about 2lt/h at 2000rpm or
2.7lt/h at 2500rpm. I found that 2000rpm was
fine, and it pushed us along at around five
knots. At that speed you'd have a cruising range
under motor of nearly 350 miles.
Incidentally, access to the engine from the
front or rear is excellent thanks to a dual
engine-box setup that can be lifted off from the
saloon at the front or the aft cabin at the
rear.
We
stuck the main up and motor-sailed for a while,
which was comfortable and quiet, but we really
wanted to get the boat sailing properly.
Therefore, we were pleasantly surprised when the
breeze picked up to 11–12kt.
Under full sail, we could now kill the diesel
and let the 387 glide along at around 35° to the
wind and a bit over five knots of boat speed. It
took me quite a while to figure out that I was
over-sheeting the boat and pinching too high.
It's a cruiser, dummy!
We
cracked the sheets a bit and headed down by
about five degrees, and bingo - 6.4kts SOG.
The Catalina seems to find its own grove pretty
easily and we had a great time sipping Coke and
eating up the miles.
The boat was really in its element now and we
had it in lovely trim, but not a photographer to
be seen... oh well, we just had to make the most
of it. Tom was musing on what he should tell his
wife: "She'd be loving it out here," he said.
We
slipped the Catalina into a tack before I ran it
aground off Green Point, and I was surprised at
its manoeuvrability. It will just about spin on
its own length and it held speed nicely through
the tack.
Tom reminded me that this was the wing-keel
version and only drew 1.47m, so I didn't feel so
bad about the shallow water. (The Catalina 387
can be ordered either with this shallow-draft
wing keel or the deeper 2.18m fin keel.)
We
worked our way along the Melbourne shore and I
was pleased with how easy it was to sail the 387
with just the two of us. There's a lot to be
said for just cruising along without having to
be in perfect trim for the absolute optimum
speed. Any more relaxed and we would have
started decomposing...
Eventually we decided that it was high time we
spun around for the run back home.
I
was a bit disappointed that Tom hadn't invested
in the genniker yet but the 387 cruised along
nicely at around four knots with the breeze
right behind us.
We
got a couple of friendly waves from fellow
cruisers as we headed back in the afternoon sun,
and with the West Gate Bridge looming large
before us, I realised our day was coming to a
close.
We
rolled in the headie as we neared the bridge
(God, I love furlers!) and I spun the Catalina
around so Tom could drop the main. With the
Yanmar purring away, we slipped back into the
marina with hardly a scratch and I bade farewell
to Tom and the 387.
In
all, it was a great day on a lovely cruiser that
was well suited to what we did.
The Catalina is a well-appointed and very
comfortable yacht that is designed to do a job,
cruise, and do it well.
It
is also comparatively inexpensive. At $275,000
for the base boat, it's a good deal. Add some
more electronics, the factory cockpit cushions
(about $700), perhaps a dodger, certainly a
barbie on the pushpit, a genniker and that's it!
You've got yourself a great cruising boat, and
if you don't tell the manufacturer that you're
actually racing their cruiser, you probably
won't embarrass yourself around the cans on a
midweek twilight either.
HIGHS
-
Deck hardware is of particularly high quality
-
Standard features abound and are well suited
to cruising
-
Interior volume and storage belie the boat's
length
LOWS
-
Lack of in the owners' aft cabin
-
Fit and finish not to Euro standards
-
Don't expect to point as high as a racer
|
CATALINA 387 |
|
PRICE AS TESTED $290,000 |
|
OPTIONS FITTED |
|
Chartplotter, cushions, canvas pack,
safety gear, TV antenna |
|
|
|
PRICED FROM $275,000 |
|
|
|
GENERAL |
|
Hull type: Monohull cruiser |
|
Material: Fibreglass |
|
Length overall: 12.14m |
|
Length at waterline: 9.88m |
|
Beam: 3.76m |
|
Draft: 2.18m (fin keel) 1.47m (wing
keel) |
|
Displacement: 8618kg (fin keel) 8845kg
(wing keel) |
|
Ballast: 3084kg (fin keel) 3311kg (wing
keel) |
|
|
|
CAPACITIES |
|
Berths: Four to six |
|
Fuel: 139lt |
|
Water: 368lt |
|
|
|
ENGINE |
|
Make/model: Yanmar 3JH3BE |
|
Type: Three-cylinder naturally aspirated
diesel |
|
Rated hp: 40 |
|
|
|
Sail Area |
|
Main: 32.14sqm |
|
Total (100% foretriangle): 66.8sqm |
|
|
|
* Prices & data correct at time of
publication |
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