Catalina 250 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The 250’s stability comes entirely from a flooding system that fills a slab-like tank inside the hull bottom, averaging only about six inches high but running nearly 14 feet from stem to just aft of the companionway and out to the hull skin. There is no fixed ballast; tracking relies on an unweighted foil-shaped centerboard that sweeps back roughly 15 degrees when lowered and carries a 3/16-inch stainless frame with some lead in its lower section, weighing about 90 pounds. The hull itself is a solid laminate of knitted fiberglass with a vinylester skin, and Catalina described the gel coat as blister-resistant with a limited five-year warranty on new boats. The deck is plywood-cored for stiffness while the cabintop uses end-grain balsa to keep weight low, and the hull-deck joint is a modified shoebox with overlapping flanges. A composite rudder with foam core is fixed rather than kick-up. Writing in Cruising World, reviewers found general workmanship below that of fixed-keel Catalina boats, and the extensive interior liner that dresses up the cabin also blocks access to the outer skin for wiring or repairs.

Rig and Handling

The masthead rig steps on deck, supported by wire over single spreaders with no runners or movable stays, and the light deck-stepped rig reflects a boat that does not load it hard. Mainsail slides with conventional reefing pair with a roller-furling jib, and a full-battened main with a modest 110 percent jib plus a cockpit-mounted outboard make for easy handling. The jib winches sit well away from the tiller, though a Practical Sailor survey found the handles cannot be cranked a full turn without hitting a nearby stanchion less than nine inches from the winch centerline. Under sail, testers reported continuous strong weather helm that built in gusts, a tendency to oversteer through tacks and jibes, and a minor mast inversion from leech tension when reefed. The motion under way is comparatively easy for the type, likely from the spread-out ballast, and the test boat pointed within 45 degrees of the wind and reached around five knots in puffs. Movement forward is constrained by the narrow beam and lifeline base.

Accommodations

Below, the boat is versatile for her length, especially with the pop-top raised for standing headroom. Forward is a small V-berth, 75 inches long and 68 across the wide end, suited to kids or stowage but expandable for adults by removing the settee’s forward divider. A circular settee under the mast faces aft to a table that also mounts in the cockpit, and a huge aft double berth runs 76 inches fore-and-aft though its overhead is only 17 inches above the cushion for most of its width. The enclosed head to port uses a Porta Potti, and the starboard galley is minimal with a single-burner butane stove and a removable cooler rather than a built-in icebox. Cabin headroom at galley and head is just 4 feet 6 inches. The companionway ladder is well angled but would benefit from side supports when heeled.

Known Issues

The boat should never be sailed without the water ballast in place, as righting moment depends entirely on the flooded tank. Early hulls showed serious leaks that prompted Catalina to redesign the ballast tank mold, and the builder states those early hulls have since been retrofitted. Early brochures wrongly showed the centerboard as vertical and advertised positive flotation that was dropped before production to preserve cabin space, leaving no special flotation in the finished boat. There is also no provision to pump ballast to the high side as seen on some offshore racers.

Ownership and Trailering

Trailering is a core strength: the water ballast drains for the trip home, and the deck-stepped rig with pivoting mast step and mast carrier simplifies launching. The cockpit has an open transom with the outboard in an accessible well forward of the stern, and a long-shaft engine is required with an extra-long shaft recommended. A manual bilge pump sits in the port footwell, and standard gear includes boom vang, jiffy reefing, swim ladder, and lifelines. The 12-volt system uses a 90-amp-hour deep-cycle battery per the owner’s manual, and the portable fuel locker is sized for a six-gallon tank.

The Verdict

The Catalina 250 is a clever trailerable cruiser that trades traditional ballast for flooded volume, yielding easy towing and a roomy cabin for weekend use. She is best suited to sailors who value launch-and-go simplicity over refined upwind performance, and who accept modest workmanship and a tender, weather-helm-prone hull under sail.

Pros