san juan21 vs catalina 25

[shooter13]

So I posted a while back about a few boats I was looking at in moving up from my san juan. i decided neither was what I wanted.

Now I am looking at a Catalina 25. The things I like about it are the ability to put it on a trailer when the inevitable hurricane rolls through and its larger size. My wife doesn't really like the San Juan as it is more of a big dingy than a little yacht. I think it is a blast to sail but the truth is for people my wife and I's size, the cabin is next to useless.

Does anyone have any experiences with the catalina 25 that could tell me what to expect from it? Is it large enough to have a bigger boat feel than my San Juan?

[P8dawg]

Here in Wichita,there are enough San Juan 21s to fleet up almost every major regatta. I don't think I've ever seen a fleet of Catalina 25s. I have sailed on one. It seemed pretty typical of all Catalinas,a good all around boat, with an empasis on cabin comfort.

[Catalina274me]

shooter13
Is the Catalina 25 the 25 or 250 model?
My buddy at my home port has the 250 and I like the room, it has almost as much room as my Catalina 27. Totally differant layout though. He also likes the ability to put on trailor and go.

[shooter13]

The one I saw was a 25.

There is a huge racing group of San Juans. I have thought of getting into it but frankly, I am not a good enough sailor for it. That and most of the racing for smaller boats under 25 feet seems to be about a two hour drive from here. Not far but not one I look forward to with a trailor all that often. We really just enjoy being on the water and drinking beer.

[delliottg]

We've got a Catalina 250 and have been trying to sell our San Juan 21 for over a year (anybody interested?). I can tell you it's night & day. There's headroom, I can't quite stand up straight (6'-2"), but my five foot wife has about 8" over her head. With the pop-top up, there's 7'-7" of headroom in the galley & head area. And there's an actual galley & head, plus room to sleep four comfortably, six if two of them are children or small. We spent over a year looking at boats before buying this one, but we'd decided on a C-250 several months earlier, just had to find the right one. Ended up driving 600 miles to get it.

That said, it's easier to sail the SJ, it's way more responsive, the Catalinas are built for comfort, not speed. I think if we lived on a lake where the SJ & Catalina were at the same pier, I'd probably sail the SJ more than the Catalina.

I have no experience with the C-25, but there are lots & lots of them out there.

[jimmyb116]

what about a SJ 24 as an upgrade

[shooter13]

Thanks delliottg, I guess I couldn't ask for a better source of info. I figure it will take me a while to unload my SJ as well if I move forward. Jimmy as to the SJ24, I don't know anything about them. I definately love the Clark Boat company so if there was one near me I would check it out.

delliottg, what made you pick the 250? Just curious. What is the sailing like where you are? Here in Charleston, we have rivers, the harbour and then coastal sailing. My san Juan is fine in the rivers, ok in the barbour and I have never been brave enough to go out past the Jetties in it.

[PBzeer]

The SJ24 is quite similar to the C25 interiorwise, but, from my experience with owners of both, the SJ is the better sailing boat.

[jimmyb116]

I own an SJ24 so its a biased opinion I love it. Its just big enough for my family (wife 6 year old and dog) to spend 2 weeks a year vacationing on, but small enough to single hand easy. It was the top of the heap of the IOR 1/4 toners in the 70's and is still competitive to race around the cans. There are lots around here and sell for $3000 to $10,000 there was one on e-bay just last week with trailer for less than $3000.

[blt2ski]

Not that an SJ24 is a bad boat, it is fast for its size yadda yadda. BUT, for some, it does have the perverbial IOR deathroll if using a kite! If one is looking for a bigger SJ, IIRC there was a 26 and an updated version metric sized in nature 7.x or some such thing. While slower to a degree than the 24, a bit bigger interior, swing keel/partial fixed keel, better sailing characteristics overall. These models would be better to compare to the C25 than an SJ24. This current issue of good old boat has an article on the Clark boat company and its boats.

As i am writing this, I seem to recall a 23 in small numbers too. The 21, 24's in trailerable models were the most produced. I see a number of 28's in the larger size, the 30 was also a good performer in the half ton catagory. The others were reasonable performers in there appropriate size too.

Marty