Hunter 260 vs. Catalina 250

[C_QUAD]

I am looking to buy either a Hunter 260 or a Catalina 250. I intended to do weekend & 1 -2 week stints on lakes for 2-3 years and then move to the Florida Gulf for coastal and Keys sailing. I also hope to cross to the Bahamas for Island hopping.At most there will be two of us as well as some single handed sailing. Any suggestions as to which boat is better for this purpose or is there another boat I should consider?

[HerbDB]

I would look at a used Catalina 25 before I bought one of these newer boats. I sailed a C25 with a swing keel for 6 years. It was heavy, but easy to launch and recover. We did a lot of lake sailing and two to three week trips to the Pacific Northwest. I think the older boat has a much better layout and design than the newer ones.

I hated the layout of the Catalina 250 particularly the head arrangement. Also the head room was very limited in the water ballast version. The fixed keel looked like it would be difficult to launch from the trailer.

Take a real good look at the sleeping arrangements on the Hunter. With no V-berth you would have to use the aft berth. Think about the difficulty of getting two people in and out of it.

I think a V-berth makes a lot more sense in a boat this size. That space in the back is good for storage or sleeping for small kids.

Happy sailing whatever your choice. Take a hard look at the older boats.

Herb

[Bradstokes]

I sort of agree with the other guy, look at the older C25''s, but if you are dead set on a new, I would go with the C250. I just recently purchased one and love it. I had to adjust to the head room. I was used to 6'' clearance in my old Ericson, so I felt cramped at first. The Catalina 250 is a nice boat, I have a Wing keel. She sails nice and can handle more than you think. I''ve been on some hunter''s in the pass and they seem more tender then the catalinas and want to heel on any little wind.
The C250 has a nice v berth that suits me just fine (i''m only 5''8&quot, but its really up to you look at the old and the new, crawl all around them. sit down below for a while and see if you could call it home, and try to get your hands on their tiller and see how they fly.

[gkobernus]

I have a H260. I've looked at the boats mentioned. Without a doubt the Hunter has more cabin room and cockpit space. Other advantages include ease of launching and trailering.

On the other hand I favor fixed keel boats for their better sailing manners. My experience is that given equal displacements and dimensions, the fixed keel boat will handle better and be less tender. However, the fixed keel boat is not as easy to trailer and launch.

Both the Hunter and Catalina boats are excellent costal sailors as long as you understand their limitations.

More on this subject at: http://kobernus.com/hunter260/index.html

[svs3]

ummm .... the post you responded to is almost 6 years old

[myth900]

He's got to get his post count up some way...

[camaraderie]

Guess we're due to hear back in 2009! Stay tuned!!