Catalina 320 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

Owner three-cabin arrangements are the more common on the used market, but both configurations appear, and ex-charter boats are common. The standard interior places the master stateroom to starboard at the companionway foot with a queen berth and the only hanging locker, while the saloon settee converts to a double and the forepeak bulkhead panels come out for access. The head is compact but has its own shower sump, and the galley to port carries a double sink, two-burner oven, and a 5-cubic-foot fridge. Early hulls had a too-shallow bilge that let water slosh amidships; later molds gained deeper floorboard cavities, and retrofitted baffles addressed the problem on older boats.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

Commonly fitted gear on used Catalina 320s includes a bimini, dodger, autopilot, and chartplotter, which together mean most boats need little to be weekend-ready. Often-seen additions are air conditioning, hot water, a swim platform, and a furling main—the latter worth checking against the original Schaefer 2000 above-deck furler. Less common owner upgrades run to inverter, cockpit shower, solar, heating, spinnaker or asymmetric, radar, and dinghy davits; a buyer weighing a generator or watermaker should treat those as rare and inspect accordingly. The standard Yanmar 3GM30F diesel and Lewmar winches, plus the anchor well with electric windlass below, are the consequential baseline items.

What to Inspect

Early Catalina 320s buried wiring runs beneath the pans, and chafe with breaks occurred; verify any rewire was done into PVC conduit rather than left as original inadequate wiring runs were buried beneath the pans. The shallow original bilge let water move amidships, so confirm baffles or retooled deeper cavities are present. Owners commonly noted that the controls for the solid vang and topping lift were left at the mast, a handling irritation rather than a defect but one to evaluate if you short-hand reef often. Positioned aft of the companionway, the motor is simplest to service from the stateroom, so test that access in person.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

These boats turn up across the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Netherlands. When viewing, check the wiring retrofit, bilge depth, and stateroom engine access; confirm the furling gear and standard winches are intact; and decide whether a commonly fitted dodger and autopilot meet your needs or whether an often-seen furling main and air conditioning matter more than a rare owner-added generator.