Catana 58 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

Charter-oriented four-cabin layouts form the more common configuration you will encounter, and a number of these boats have spent time in charter programs. Both the four-cabin arrangement and the owner’s version circulate on the brokerage market, giving a buyer a genuine choice depending on how much private space they need. In the owner’s version, the entire starboard hull can be dedicated to a single stateroom, though some boats give up a portion of that volume to a small segregated crew cabin forward. The port hull is consistently devoted to guests, typically with twin singles aft and a double berth forward. In one version these two guest cabins are fully segregated with separate entries and en suite heads; in a slightly more compact arrangement they share an entry and carry smaller heads. Whichever layout you step into, the bridgedeck saloon maintains a low profile and a relatively small horizontal footprint, yet it still feels remarkably spacious on a boat of this beam. The galley sits right at the aft end of the saloon, giving the cook direct cockpit access through a sliding window panel.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

These catamarans left the factory with a clear performance brief, and the equipment you will find on the used market tends to cluster around a few distinct tiers. A carbon-fiber mast is universal—though aluminum sticks were technically available, every Catana 58 was ordered and delivered with carbon. On the more luxurious 582 variant you can expect Kevlar fiber standing rigging along with carbon-fiber booms and bowsprits, whereas the earlier 581s carry aluminum booms and sprits paired with conventional stainless-steel rigging.

Solar arrays are commonly fitted, and you will typically find a chartplotter and a self-tacking jib already aboard. A gennaker is also a frequent companion on these boats, which speaks to how owners use them. Moving down the prevalence scale, you will often see an inverter, electric winches, a bimini, dinghy davits, teak decks, a cockpit shower, radar, and an autopilot—the latter especially worth confirming on any candidate, since the boat cannot be singlehanded without one. Upgrades that appear on a meaningful number of boats but are not universal include watermakers, lithium battery banks, asymmetric spinnakers, furling mainsails, a dedicated freezer, a hardtop, and a life raft. These are the items worth prioritizing on your shopping list if they are absent from a candidate, as they represent a frequent owner investment rather than a rare retrofit.

What to Inspect

A pre-purchase survey on a Catana 58 must contend with a few known structural and design characteristics that are specific to this model. The hull and deck are a fiberglass laminate set in vinylester resin vacuum-bagged over a Divinycell PVC foam core, with solid laminate used exclusively in areas where hardware is mounted. Critically, the inner skin of the hull carries a layer of Twaron aramid fabric laminated over the core to increase stiffness and impact resistance. Any surveyor needs to confirm the integrity of this laminate and the core, particularly around through-hull fittings and the daggerboard trunks.

Pay very close attention to the running rigging tunnel system. Much of the sail handling is routed through a large channel beneath the cockpit to a central electric cockpit winch, which allows most line handling to happen in one place. The known vulnerability here is that lines lost up the tunnel can only be retrieved via ports under the bridgedeck that cannot be accessed while sailing. On the hard, have your surveyor open those inspection ports and ensure the conduits are clear and free of chafe damage.

The underwater form demands a hard look at the box chine. The inboard sides of the hulls flare out in a pronounced hard-angled chine just above the waterline to increase interior volume, but the flat bottom of the chine is close enough to the water to increase resistance and underbody slamming in a seaway. Inspect this area carefully for any signs of stress cracking or previous impact damage.

Finally, there is the matter of weight. Catana was sued by an owner who discovered his boat was heavier than the published lightship displacement; the yard subsequently stopped publicizing the original figure and began circulating a much more conservative displacement number. This means a surveyor’s haul-out weight check, compared against the post-litigation displacement of roughly 52,910 pounds, is invaluable for understanding exactly what systems and gear have accumulated over the years and whether the waterline is where it belongs.

Availability and Buyer’s Takeaway

Catana 58s change hands in relatively tight geographical corridors. The most consistent brokerage activity occurs across the United States, France, Greece, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Martinique, and Mexico. One tester has sailed a Catana 58 transatlantic, so a buyer willing to look across these markets can find well-maintained examples on either side of the ocean.

Before committing, keep a short mental checklist:

• Determine whether the boat is a 581 or a 582, and confirm the rigging and spar materials match that specification.
• Verify the integrity of the cored hull laminate and the Twaron inner skin with a moisture meter and percussion testing.
• Inspect the running rigging tunnel system and access ports for any sign of jammed or chafed lines.
• Evaluate the condition of the daggerboards and their lifting mechanisms.
• Confirm the presence and functionality of an autopilot system, as the helm positions make this essential for short-handed sailing.
• Obtain a detailed weight record from a travel lift during the survey to compare against the conservative displacement figures that Catana published following litigation.