Jeff,
What prompted me to enter the fray to begin with, were your unkind remarks about the seaworthiness of the Catalina 350. Your comments were in direct contradiction to everything I have seen in print. Many boat manufacturers use the CE rating as a selling point. It says something about what the boat can withstand. I have shown ads, articles about Island Packet''s CE -A rating, the Gib''Sea 41'' CE-A rating and of course, the Catalina CE-A rating. I have shown that the CE-A rating means "Open Ocean rated". I have shown that it means "Can handle a minimum of Force 8 winds and 13" seas". You are entitled to bash Catalinas if you want, but I am entitled to point out the facts about the CE-A rating that they have. Now, in terms of the Hunter spokeperson that you quoted, let us examine his words to see if he was perhaps, fudging it a bit. Here is an exerpt of what he said in your last posting-
"Currently, all of our non-trailerable boats over 30 feet are capable of meeting the CE Open Ocean rating."
Notice that he says "capable". That does not mean that they HAVE the rating of CE-A. As a matter of fact, I just went to the Hunter Marine site, and did a lookup of the specs of the 306, and it is listed as having a CE-B rating. Was your spokesperson talking through his hat? Was he lying? Ws he bluffing? Go see for yourself. At least when Catalina says they have the rating, they really do! Hunters are nice boats. I have studied them to a certain degree and I have been aboard and have admired their interiors.
In the last series of boat shows, I boarded both Hunter and Catalina. One thing that jumped out at me was the sheer number and size of
winches offered on Catalina as compared to the Hunter. I was also taken by the massive construction of the Catalina as compared to the Hunters. Maybe those factors have something to do with off shore ratings( among other structural things). In this months issue of "Sail" magazine on page 35, Hallberg -Rassy also touts it''s CE-A rating and I quote;
"Hallberg-Rassy CERTIFICATION: Each boat is delivered with a CE certification and a CE plaque for Category A (unlimited Ocean Voyages)."
Obviously they are quite proud of their "A" rating by CE. This is the same rating that the Catlaina 350 has (not just capable of). I rest my case.