Winter sailing was never meant to
be this good. Clear skies and an
unseasonably warm 10kt northerly
painted Pittwater in a perfect
light. The temperature, a
snow-melting 19°C, brought shrills
of delight from the local fairy
penguins, whose calls echoed the
pleasure being had aboard
Catalina's 47ft flagship
passagemaker.
According to the brochure from the
American production yacht giant,
the 470 offers a level of
performance, comfort and safety
that effectively raises the bar
for the entire cruising category.
According to those onboard, the
big 47-footer knows no bounds.
Our sail on Pittwater was like a
stroll in the park compared with
the yacht's past and present
tenure. Having been shipped to
Sydney, the 470 was sailed north
for the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show,
then delivered back to Sydney
before readying itself for a
voyage south.
Along the way, those aboard the
big yacht encountered the spectrum
of winter weather. Though they
missed out on the perfect winter
conditions which marked the test
sail, the crew spoke of everything
from motoring for lack of breeze
to beating home into a brisk 37kt
sou'westerly. That is, from 40nm
east of Port Stephens.
The point Catalina importer Norm
Ambrose makes is that people do
sail long distances in Catalinas.
One fleet-footed owner of a
42-footer packed his bags and
sailed from Adelaide to Turkey.
Two other owners of 42s that
Ambrose knows have cruised around
the South Pacific. I wonder what
they would give for the big 470?
Catalina's purpose-built
passagemaker offers more space,
security and, as the brochure
says, comfort, than any other
yacht in the range. And bigger is
most definitely better when it
comes to passagemakers.
CATERING FOR CRUISING
Like a well-built house, a good
cruising yacht must succeed on
several levels. These include
having the ability and stability
to weather a big blow, being
slippery enough to make headway in
a fickle wind, and having the
all-important home-away-from-home
accommodation.
Along the way, things such as
engineering, serviceability, and
user-friendliness each play a
role.
To this end, my short but sweet
sail along Pittwater only offered
a few clues about the 470's
offshore sailing potential. But
potential it most certainly has.
Available in either two or
three-cabin versions, the yacht is
at once an ideal mobile home for
an adventurous couple and a
commodious cruiser for a big crew
wanting to contest the ocean races
north to the Whitsundays each
winter. Further, the three-cabin
470 I tested was fitted with an
optional tall rig, providing 8.1%
more sail area than the standard
rig.
With a bigger main and genoa, the
470 felt decidedly powerful in the
light airs. The yacht's
part-owner, Richard Hamilton from
Ausail at Pittwater, went for the
taller rig for additional
performance during around-the-cans
club racing.
The bigger rig will also help make
the boat more attractive to
corporate sailors. After all, the
last thing a successful
businessman wants is to be last
over the line.
"The 470 is lively by Catalina's
standards," says Hamilton.
In just 10kt of breeze with the
full main and number two furling
headsail, I cracked six knots
upwind. While the fixed prop
seemed to create some drag, the
hull nevertheless felt slippery.
To counter the power, Hamilton had
an additional reefing point added
to the main. The reefing line
leads back to the cockpit.
Ballasting comes in two forms, but
with lead keels. There's a 1.68m
shoal-draft winged keel swinging
4332kg of lead or, on the test
yacht, a 2.39m deep-fin keel with
3992kg of lead. The displacement
of the 470 is 11,794kg, with an
additional 340kg in the
shoal-draft version. For
stability, the deep-keel makes
more sense, of course.
TWO CREW IS ENOUGH
As for user-friendliness, two
people can easily sail the
Catalina 470.
All lines lead back along the
cabin top through Lewmar clutches
to the cockpit. There is an
electric winch for the main
halyard, and a Dutchman reefing
system that self-flakes the
full-battened main. Options
include in-boom or mast furling
and electric genoa winches.
The traveller, which is on the
cabin top and thereby frees up the
cockpit, has a unique fore and aft
rotating system to lessen the load
on the mainsheet. The sheets for
the roller-furling genoa,
meanwhile, lead back to raised
tracks and custom cheek blocks to
perfectly apt, oversized Harken 66
two-speed winches.
The double-spreader masthead rig,
while deck stepped, appears
well-stayed.
Offsetting the enormous aft beam
are twin wheels that offer a clear
view down both sides of the
headsail. Crew members, meanwhile,
have pushpit seats positioned some
two metres apart and plenty of
bumrests in the wide cockpit.
The outdoor living areas cater to
lifestyle pursuits. Access is
unobstructed to the big boarding
platform, deck shower, and the
multipurpose pedestal in the
centre of the cockpit. The
pedestal harbours a flip-top dash
for electronics, including GPS
plotter and windlass, plus lunch
table and central icebox with
drink holders.
Because the twin or massive single
aft cabins (depending on which
version of the 470 you buy) take
up most of the yacht's aft space,
the cockpit storage lockers are on
the small side. Though the twin
aft lockers access a lazarette and
the steering gear, their narrow
entry will make retrieving a
rubber ducky and outboard a
challenge. But perhaps the
high-cut headsail and big foredeck
will allow you to keep your ducky
on deck.
The amount of deck space on the
470 makes moving from bow to
stern, or for racing crew crossing
over the cabin top, a breeze.
Other deck features include
handrails and, though an
after-market inclusion, that most
essential of cruising equipment -
the rail-mounted barbie!
Though the 470 can sleep nine
people, its cockpit is so big you
could easily sleep another two or
three outdoors. Fitted with
clip-in cushions, you can find
comfort behind the big dodger. I
could easily imagine reclining out
here with a half-empty bottle of
red, looking up at star-filled
tropical skies in the Whitsundays
- much like one would on a big
cruising cat.
INTERIOR BEAUTY
Having said that, the 470's
interior is a beauty. As far as
homes-away-from-home go, the yacht
is more a castle than a cottage.
Headroom is way up there - perhaps
as high as 2.2m. Thus the general
feeling is one of airiness and
open-plan living, though the
overhead lockers over the galley
return cut the view when you first
step inside.
By my observations the joinery has
improved compared with some
'pop-out' Catalinas I've been on.
The jigsawing, gumming-up with
Sikaflex, and self-tapered veneer
panels were less conspicuous -
which is just as well on a
$500,000 luxury yacht.
Satin-varnished teak and some
holly between floor planks were
used to good effect. A white
headliner and plenty of hatches
catch the natural light, while 12V
lighting extends to the lockers in
the cabins.
While practical at anchor only,
the forward head includes a
washer-dryer in the shower recess.
The amidships day head, on the
starboard side near the
companionway, also includes a
full-sized shower stall and the
only electric loo on the boat. The
third head serving the portside
cabin is smaller, with a hand-held
shower tap.
Servicing these and the cockpit
shower is a 75lt hot-water service
with heat exchanger and separate
element. Fuel for the
fresh-water-cooled 75hp Yanmar is
318lt split between two tanks,
with selection valves and separate
filters. All the tanks are
monitored by a Norwegian Wema
analogue gauge at a doubly
impressive circuit-breaker board
alongside the navigation station.
The nav station to starboard, in
the conventional spot opposite the
galley, points to the 470's
cruising intent.
As part of the package, you get
Autohelm ST80 instruments with
some repeaters, Raytheon VHF, a
full circuit-breaker board with
two house batteries, one
engine-start battery, built-in
battery charger, and intricate
bilge system.
Nearby, is an entertainment system
facing the main U-shaped lounge
and dinette on the portside, ahead
of the galley. Built into the teak
cabinetry are colour television
and VCR operating off a 12V
inverter, Sony sound system and
10-stacker CD, and internal Bose
speakers, as well as waterproof
speakers outdoors.
Opposite the main dinette is a
nifty lounge that converts into a
second, more intimate dinner
setting for two.
At a recent Catalina raft-up, 13
people apparently dined below on
the 470. (The meal they enjoyed
was a roast dinner with gravy and
vegies.) Though a few people had
to sit on the companionway steps,
you can appreciate just how big
the 470 is inside. The lounges
also double as sea berths.
The galley includes a DC-powered
compressor for two separate
fridge/freezer systems, with pumps
for discharging the thaw-water.
There's a built-in microwave,
three-burner LPG stove (bottles in
transom) with oven, in-counter
receptacle, and lots of drawers
and overhead cabinets for
crockery, cutlery, spices and
cruising provisions.
Well-heeled couples will find the
two-cabin 470 offers a level of
accommodation to rival a
centre-cockpit yacht. The
three-cabin model, with twin aft
staterooms with hanging lockers
and heads, appeared indulgent
enough.
Though listed as a guest's cabin,
the up front could be used as a
stateroom at quiet anchorages. The
brochure points to a large pullman
berth being built-in. Confining
the crew to the bow so you can
retain some privacy back aft,
especially in the two-cabin boat,
is very European.
Buyers will need to supply their
own manchester, cushions. etc for
all cabins.
SAILING AWAY
The tour of the 470's interior
took almost as long as my tour of
Pittwater. In a sense, both were
adventures. It's just a shame that
on this perfect winter's day we
couldn't poke our nose out through
Broken Bay and reach up the coast.
The boat's solid-glass
construction and structural
fibreglass grid system are
designed for such things.
The way the importers put it, the
Catalina 470 is an owner-driven
design for long-term living. Hence
the 810lt of water and 335lt of
fuel, the collision bulkhead, and
the big stainless stemhead. Hence
the reason the owner has sailed
the yacht up and down the eastern
seaboard chasing the boat shows.
The vice-president of Catalina in
America, Perry Douglas, met local
agent Norm Ambrose on a recent
tour and said his 470 was for
experienced sailors who want to do
some serious cruising. "Most will
have come up through the 38s and
42s," he said, "and for them the
470 will be a natural
progression."
But to make life even more
comfortable, the owners fitted a
full spread of instruments
including radar, airconditioning,
leather upholstery, and, as I
discovered, a good stock of Tim
Tams.
The only thing missing was a bit
more time to enjoy the sailing.
HIGHS
-
A passagemaker with almost as
much space as a cruising
catamaran; user-friendly
handling with surprisingly
lively performance thanks to an
optional tall rig.
-
An owner's boat, the 470's
interior is the best yet from
America's most frenetic
production-yacht builder.
LOWS
-
The fixed prop creates drag, the
stainless work needed polishing,
serious cruising folk might
prefer a keel-stepped mast.
-
Despite three heads, there is
just one electric loo.
-
Cockpit storage was tight for a
ducky.
-
The return over the galley
hindered with the open-plan
layout.
