Catalina 36 Mk II Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Catalina assembles the 36 Mk II from three principal moldings: the hull, deck, and an interior liner that forms the cabin sole and much of the furniture. The hand-laid hull is solid fiberglass with vinylester resin on the outer plies beneath the gelcoat to resist osmotic blistering anchor. The laminate alternates 7.5-ounce cloth, 24-ounce roving, and 1.5-ounce chopped strand mat, with more knitted than woven roving in current models to improve structural integrity. Hull thickness runs 1 inch at the centerline and 5/8 inch on bottom panels, while the liner is bonded to the hull at every intersection with X-mat tape and bulkheads are bedded in 3M 5200 and fastened to the liner. The deck is hand-laid and cored with Baltec end-grain balsa, a change from the plywood cores of earlier versions, and the overlapping hull/deck flange is bonded with a fiberglass-reinforced polyester mix and secured with 1/4-inch bolts on 6-inch centers. Lower-shroud loads pass to the hull through tie rods anchored at the chainplates and reinforced hull areas, and deck hardware is machine-screwed to tapped aluminum plates bedded in the laminate.

Keel, Rig, and Handling

The standard fin keel is the same design as on hull #1, a lead casting with 2% antimony hung on type 316 stainless bolts and weighing 6,042 pounds; a shoal-draft wing keel of 6,670 pounds replaced the limited-success Scheel option. On new boats the rudder was reconfigured as a semi-elliptical blade. The anodized mast is Catalina's own, with a standard spar height of 44 feet 9 inches and an optional taller rig adding 24 inches for light-air performance. Standing rigging uses 5/16-inch upper shrouds and stays with 1/4-inch lowers, a split backstay with adjustable turnbuckles, and jib/genoa car tracks both inboard near the cabin sides and outboard on the toerail. A Schaeffer 2100 furler is standard, as are Garhauer solid vang and most deck hardware, Lewmar winches and hatches, self-tailing Lewmar 48 primaries and Lewmar 30 halyard winches, and Dacron running rigging.

Under sail the boat proved capable in Practical Sailor's test: 5.7 knots under full main alone in 16 knots true, 5.5–6 knots upwind with the 135% genoa, and 6.2 knots reefed to about 15 degrees of heel, her best attitude anchor. With a double reef and 105% jib she reached 7.1 knots, touched 7.6 on the beat, and footed off to 8–8.5 knots on a broad reach, a knot above theoretical hull speed. Tacking angles ran about 100 degrees with the genoa. The deck layout is organized for shorthanded sailing, with 17-inch-wide decks, a 1-1/2-inch toerail, and a full-length cabintop handrail, though stanchions at 24 inches and a mast pulpit at 25 inches fall short of offshore preferences.

Accommodations

The accommodation plan is nearly 20 years old and essentially unchanged except for minor storage revisions. The saloon stretches 13 feet 4 inches from companionway to forward stateroom under 6 foot 5 inches of headroom, with a U-shaped dinette for four or an optional L-shaped version and a 25-by-30-inch game table that converts to a 6 foot 2 inch berth. The galley to port at the companionway foot is L-shaped with a Seaward two-burner propane stove and a 60-inch counter; opposite sits the nav station with a 22-by-26-inch chart table, a bulkhead for electronics, and a swinging-chair seat. The head forward to port measures 50 by 36 inches with a shower seat and accesses both saloon and V-berth, the latter 90 inches wide at the head. A second stateroom below the cockpit enters from the port quarter, its 78-by-80-inch stern bunk under only 16 inches of cockpit clearance but with a 5 foot 10 inch forward headroom and a hanging locker.

Known Issues

Owners responding to Practical Sailor's survey commonly report chainplate leaks requiring annual inspection or rebedding, and a frequent complaint concerns interior woodwork. The inboard genoa track proved at least a foot too short for hard upwind sailing with a double-reefed main and shortened headsail during the test sail, and the 42-inch destroyer wheel, while easing heavy-weather steering, impedes movement forward to sheet or mainsail controls when singlehanding. Wet cockpit seats turned slick when heeled beyond 10 degrees. One owner noted the dining table bracket sits so far off-center that a large person thrown onto the inboard edge could break it, and the nav-station chair lock does not always hold on a starboard tack while blocking aft-stateroom access. Reaching the port side of the Universal 35B diesel is a difficult chore despite companionway-step and aft-stateroom panel access.

Refits and Ownership

Current boats addressed the nav-chair complaint with a bronze bearing on the swivel and a stronger spring, and the backrest removes easily for those unhappy with its footprint. Newer boats added a second electrical panel at the nav station with a Perko master switch, and their windows overlap the fiberglass by 1-1/2 inches with few reported leaks. The 78-page owner's manual documents systems, through-hulls, and parts, and the warranty covers structure for five years and blisters on a depreciating five-year schedule. The builder noted three owners have circumnavigated without incident.

The Verdict

The Catalina 36 Mk II is a thoughtfully evolved coastal cruiser that preserves one-design compatibility while refining construction and ergonomics for short-handed couple-and-family sailing. Its solid-fiberglass hull, balsa-cored deck, and lead keel deliver predictable performance across a wide wind range, and the accommodation plan remains spacious and practical after two decades. Persistent chainplate maintenance and some cockpit and nav-station ergonomic quirks are the price of its production-boat pragmatism.

Pros