Catalina Yachts is a U.S.-based builder of fiberglass monohull

Monohull

rightA monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another.-Fundamental concept:...

 sloop-rigged sailboats ranging in sizes from eight to 47 feet in length. It was founded in 1969 in Hollywood, California by Frank Butler

Frank Butler (founder)

Frank Butler, founder of Catalina Yachts, is one of the biggest boat designers and manufacturers in the world.-The Early Wesco years:Born in California in 1928, he started his career in the Navy, and went to college, but found college difficult and did not graduate. He opened his own machine shop...

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History

Catalina Yachts' founder Frank Butler's initial intent was not to produce and sell boats, but rather to have one built. In 1961, Butler took over the production of his own boat when his original boat builder ran out of funds and borrowed money from Butler; the builder was not able to repay the debt. Instead he gave Butler the tooling to continue building the boat. Butler later gained full control of the company, renaming it Wesco Marine and later Coronado Yachts

Coronado Yachts

Coronado Yachts was a US sailboat manufacturer located in Southern California which produced several popular lines in the 1960s and early 1970s. Many hulls are still sailing and racing today.-History:...

. Many Early Coronado 25 yachts have the Wesco Marine nameplate on the transom.

Among the first models built by Coronado were the Victory 21 and the Super Satellite. In 1964, the Coronado '25 was produced, becoming the first boat with a one piece interior, making the boat stronger, lighter, and less expensive than previous models. By 1969 the Coronado 27 and 30 foot models were being produced. In 1969 Butler sold Coronado to the Whittaker Corporation which had already acquired Columbia Yachts

Columbia Yachts

Columbia Yachts is a US manufacturer of sailboats, with offices and production facilities in Southern California.-History:Richard “Dick” Valdes founded Glas Laminates, a fiberglass contract company, in 1958. Among the early products were camper shells and producing canoes for Sears...

; Whittaker continued the Coronado line until 1974 producing the Coronado 34 with the center cockpit models 35 and 41. Butler remained with Whitaker for only one year then left due to disagreements with management.

The first model built by Catalina Yachts was a 22 foot design previously rejected by Columbia. By 1977 Butler had designed and produced three more models: the Catalina 25, Catalina 27, and the Catalina 30. In 1978 Catalina developed the Catalina 38 based on molds for a Sparkman & Stephens racing design purchased from the bankrupt Yankee Yacht Company. Butler redesigned the interior and gave it a "Catalina deck", taller mast, shorter boom, and moved the rudder.

In 1984 Catalina acquired Morgan Yachts and continues to use the brand name for the new deck-salon style Catalina Morgan 440 introduced in 2004. The other Morgan models including the Catalina designed M381 and M45 center cockpit models were recently retired.

Catalina Yachts Today

Catalina Yachts is one of the largest boat manufacturers in the world, with over 60,000 boats manufactured to date. Though Catalina produces boats from as small as eight feet under their Capri nameplate, the company is best known for its production of mid sized cruisers. The ocean going Catalina 50 was their largest design, but has been discontinued and replaced by the 470. Most original models are still in production albeit with substantial modifications, and there are examples of every Catalina model still in use.

Gerry Douglas became Chief Engineer and V.P in 1982 and has designed all the boats in the line since then, starting with the Catalina 36. Wesco Marine is currently held as a separate entity which provides rigging hardware to Catalina Yachts. In 1998 Gerry Douglas and Sharon Day were made partners in this privately owned company; however, Frank Butler remains active to this day.

Catalina has two production facilities; one in Largo Florida, the former home of Morgan Yachts (merged with Catalina), and one in Woodland Hills California, where the company is headquartered. Catalina's classic approach of putting the deck on before the components go in is still followed in the California factory, but in Florida the components go in before the deck goes on. In some cases large assemblies such as the head (bathroom) are pre-assembled and craned into the hull. This may be a vestige of the Morgan production culture. However in any case the philosophy remains that every bolt-on part must fit through the hatches for maintenance—even the engine. Most of the older designs are produced in California and the majority of the more recent offerings are produced in Florida. As a side effect, the C42 (42 foot) is less expensive in California than the smaller C400 (40 foot) due to shipping costs.

With a few exceptions, Catalina has focused on long term models making small changes from year to year; this has encouraged the development of owners' associations which promote "one design" racing and other forms of camaraderie. In return Catalina makes sacrifices in the ability to compete with cutting edge styles and trends. All of the larger cruising class boats, 27 feet and larger, have fixed keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

s with lead ballast

Sailing ballast

Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing. If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of...

. A notable feature of most Catalina boats is their large cabin interiors and storage they provide.

There seems to be a design trend developing since the early 1990s as evidenced by the C320, C350, C380 (series), C400, and C470 boats. These boats are taller and carry their beams (width) further back in the hull, than the classic Catalina designs such as the C30, an American Sailboat Hall of Fame

American Sailboat Hall of Fame

The American Sailboat Hall of Fame was established in 1994 by Sail America to recognize ingenuity in designs by American boat builders. The physical display is housed in The Museum of Yachting located in Fort Adams State Park, Newport, Rhode Island, and includes examples of many of the selected...

 inductee, C34 and C36. All seemed to be influenced by the M381, Catalina's first redesign of a Morgan boat, the classic Morgan 38 and its variants. The most recent designs are the Catalina Morgan 440 which seems to be addressing Hunter's deck salon competition, and the C309 which updates the aging C30; the C309 shares a hull with the C310, but has a C30 style interior and is the first production Catalina model with a fractional rig

Fractional rig

A fractional rig on a sailing vessel consists of a foresail, such as a jib or genoa sail, that does not reach all the way to the top of the mast....

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Catalina Models

Model name	Notes	PHRF PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other...  handicap
Catalina 14.2
Catalina EXPO 14.2
Catalina 22 Catalina 22 The Catalina 22 is a popular sailboat produced by Catalina Yachts. Its hull measures 21 foot 6 inches , which is rounded up to for use in the model's name...	The first and longest running model	267(FK), 270(SK), 273(WK)
Catalina 25	Introduced in 1976	222
Catalina 250	Successor to the 25, introduced in 1994	198
Catalina 27	Introduced in 1970	204
Catalina 270	Introduced in 1992	204
Catalina 28		192
Catalina 30 Catalina 30 The Catalina 30 is a twenty nine foot 11 inch long fiberglass sailboat first produced in 1974 by the Catalina Yachts Company in California. It is a sloop-rigged boat with a fixed lead keel. It has a beam of 10'10", and a draft of five feet, three inches...	Introduced in 1974, discontinued in 2006	177
Catalina 309	Introduced in 2006 to replace the Catalina 30, shares hull with C310.	Unknown
Catalina 310	Introduced in 1999	168
Catalina 320		156
Catalina 34	Introduced in 1986, 1,800 hulls, discontinued late 2008, available by special order	147
Catalina 350	Introduced in 2002	132
Calalina 36	Introduced in 1982, discontinued in 2007	141
Catalina 37	Limited production racing boat, specifically designed to replace the C38 in the Congressional Cup hosted by LBYC (LBYC.org) and the Long Beach Sailing Foundation (LBYCSF.org)
Catalina 375	Introduced in 2008 as a replacement for the Catalina 36, but has a longer waterline and a broader beam than the Catalina 387. It is heavier than the Catalina 36, but lighter than the Catalina 387.	84
Catalina 38 Catalina 38 The Catalina 38 is a sloop-rigged sailboat manufactured by Catalina Yachts of Woodland Hills, California from 1977 to 1990. A total of 366 hulls were produced...	Introduced in 1977, modified from a Sparkman & Stephens Sparkman & Stephens Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with main offices on 5th Avenue in New York City, USA and offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new vessels for pleasure, commercial, and military use....  race design	117
Morgan 381	Introduced in 1993, the first Morgan design after Catalina bought Morgan	126
Catalina 380	Introduced in 1996, is a Morgan 381 modified to a rear cockpit - no similarity to the C38	120
Catalina 387	is a modified 380, which replaced the C380 and C390 boats	120
Catalina 390	Identical to the C380, but the rear stateroom was divided into two small cabins (same hull, deck, & rig)	120
Catalina 400	Introduced in 1995	102
Catalina 42	Introduced in 1989, adapated from a Nelson Merek racing hull	102
Catalina Morgan 440	Introduced in 2004, is a radical departure from previous Catalina designs.	Unknown
Morgan 45	Discontinued in 2004	168
Catalina 470	Introduced in 1998	90
Catalina 50	Discontinued in 2004	Unknown

External links

• Catalina Yachts Site
• Sail Magazine Article
• Catalina 30 Hall of Fame
• Catalina 320 International Association
• Catalina 34 International Association
• Catalina 36 International Association
• Catalina 42 International Association, now over 1000 hulls
• Capri/Catalina 14 National Association