Design and Construction
The hull is solid fiberglass with a spooned, raked stem and a raised counter leading to an angled transom. Beneath the waterline she carries an internally mounted spade-type rudder on a tiller, and the buyer could choose a fixed keel or a centerboard model. The pan-liner method introduced on this boat was a production innovation: by molding the interior as a single bonded unit, the structure gained rigidity without framed joinery. Displacement is 4,500 pounds with 2,150 pounds of lead ballast, a ballast ratio near 48 percent that gives her a steady foot for the length.
Rig and Handling
Her masthead sloop rig carries 299 square feet of sail area, and the spade rudder makes her responsive in close quarters. One longtime owner writing in the reader pages described the boat as capable of being steered by body weight alone on a broad reach, with the tiller tied off so the crew could move forward or sit on the bow pulpit and shift position to hold course. That self-steering tendency speaks to a forgiving boat for short-handed coastal daysailing.
Accommodations
Below, the plan sleeps five by the standard layout: a double V-berth forward, a dinette table in the main cabin that drops to form a second double, and an aft quarter berth to port. The galley sits on the port side just forward of the companionway ladder with a two-burner stove, icebox, and sink, while the head is placed just aft of the bow cabin to starboard. One owner who had kept his example since 1978 noted she could in practice accommodate up to seven for a couple of nights, and allowed that she would benefit from another inch of headroom. A yacht designer reportedly used one as a personal daysailer, and several owners have valued her simply as a stable platform for sitting at anchor.
The Verdict
The Coronado 25 is a thoughtfully engineered small cruiser whose pan-liner construction was ahead of its production era, and whose balanced helm makes her an approachable daysailer and weekender. She is not a spacious boat by modern standards, and the headroom reflects her 1960s proportions, but the layout is efficient and the build straightforward.
Pros
- One-piece molded interior pan liner added hull stiffness and cut production cost
- Spade rudder and moderate sail plan allow weight-steered broad reaching
- Practical five-berth layout with drop-leaf dinette double and port quarter berth
- Fixed keel or centerboard options for trailer or mooring use
Cons
- Headroom slightly short even by period standards
- Documented comfortable capacity stretches past designed berths only as a compromise
