The design trades fixed ballast for a flooding double bottom, which holds 1,200 pounds of seawater while sailing and drains in about seven minutes once the boat is on its trailer. Combined with an 8 foot 6 inch beam and a dry displacement of just 2,400 pounds, the system makes the 25-foot boat genuinely trailerable. Highway towing limits dictated the narrow beam and high freeboard, giving the 250 a somewhat awkward profile but also creating the large cockpit and interior volume central to its appeal.
Design and Construction
The Catalina 250’s stability comes entirely from a flooding tank inside the hull bottom. This slab-like tank averages only about six inches in height, but extends nearly 14 feet from the stem to just aft of the companionway and reaches out to the hull skin.
There is no fixed ballast. Instead, tracking depends on an unweighted, foil-shaped centerboard that sweeps aft roughly 15 degrees when lowered. It carries a 3/16-inch stainless frame with some lead in its lower section and weighs about 90 pounds.
The hull is a solid laminate of knitted fiberglass with a vinylester skin. Catalina described the gel coat as blister-resistant and provided a limited five-year warranty on new boats. The deck has a plywood core for stiffness, while the cabintop uses end-grain balsa to keep weight down. The hull-to-deck joint is a modified shoebox arrangement with overlapping flanges, and the foam-cored composite rudder is fixed rather than kick-up.
Writing in Cruising World, reviewers found the general workmanship below the standard of Catalina’s fixed-keel boats. The extensive interior liner gives the cabin a finished appearance, but it also blocks access to the outer skin for wiring and repairs.
Rig and Handling
The masthead rig is deck-stepped and supported by wire over single spreaders, without runners or movable stays. The light deck-stepped rig reflects a boat that doesn’t load it heavily. Mainsail slides and conventional reefing are paired with a roller-furling jib. A full-battened mainsail, modest 110 percent jib, and cockpit-mounted outboard all help make the boat easy to handle.
The jib winches are some distance from the tiller. However, a Practical Sailor survey found that their handles couldn’t complete a full turn without striking a nearby stanchion, which sits less than nine inches from the winch centerline.
Under sail, testers reported continuous strong weather helm that increased in gusts, along with a tendency to oversteer through tacks and jibes. They also noted minor mast inversion caused by leech tension when reefed. The motion underway is comparatively easy for the type, likely because the ballast is spread out. 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. ### Cockpit and Accommodation
The cockpit has an open transom, with the outboard mounted in an accessible well forward of the stern. The table used below can also be mounted in the cockpit.
For a boat of this length, the accommodation is versatile, particularly when the pop-top is raised to provide standing headroom. Forward, the small V-berth measures 75 inches long and 68 inches across its wide end. It works best for children or stowage, but removing the settee’s forward divider expands it for adults.
A circular settee beneath the mast faces aft toward the table. The large aft double berth runs 76 inches fore-and-aft, although its overhead is only 17 inches above the cushion across most of its width.
The enclosed head to port has a Porta Potti. Opposite, the minimal starboard galley has a single-burner butane stove and a removable cooler rather than a built-in icebox. Cabin headroom at the galley and head is just 4 feet 6 inches. The companionway ladder is set at a comfortable angle, but it would benefit from side supports when the boat is heeled.
Ballast and Other Known Issues
The boat should never be sailed without the water ballast in place, because its righting moment depends entirely on the flooded tank. Early hulls suffered serious leaks, prompting Catalina to redesign the ballast-tank mold. The builder states that those early hulls have since been retrofitted.
Early brochures incorrectly depicted the centerboard as vertical. They also advertised positive flotation, but that feature was dropped before production to preserve cabin space. As a result, the completed boat has no special flotation. Nor is there any provision for pumping ballast to the high side, as found on some offshore racers.
Trailering, Systems, and Equipment
Trailering is one of the Catalina 250’s central strengths. The ballast drains for the journey home, while the deck-stepped rig, pivoting mast step, and mast carrier simplify launching.
A long-shaft outboard is required, and an extra-long shaft is recommended. The portable fuel locker accommodates a six-gallon tank. A manual bilge pump is located in the port footwell, while standard equipment includes a boom vang, jiffy reefing, swim ladder, and lifelines. According to the owner’s manual, the 12-volt system uses a 90-amp-hour deep-cycle battery.
The Verdict
The Catalina 250 is a clever trailerable cruiser that substitutes flooded water ballast for traditional fixed ballast. The arrangement provides easy towing and a roomy cabin for weekend use. It’s best suited to sailors who value straightforward launching and handling over refined upwind performance, and who can accept modest workmanship and a tender hull prone to weather helm.
Pros
- Genuine trailerability, with drainable water ballast and a light, deck-stepped rig
- Large cockpit and versatile interior for a 25-footer
- Easy handling through a cockpit-mounted outboard, full-battened mainsail, and small jib
Cons
- Ballast must always be flooded while sailing, with no flotation reserve if the hull is holed
- Continuous weather helm and a tendency to oversteer reduce sailing refinement
- Below-average workmanship and an interior liner that blocks hull access for repairs
