[mountforever]

Any basic suggesstions? Conditions of the boats are both excellent, new bottom paint, good outboard, etc. etc.

Just wondering about personal preferences of everyone on here. I'm not the best sailor in the bunch so my girlfriend is pushing me more towards the Catalina which is heavier and gives more stability. I'm not trying to break the speed barriers with a Santana but comfort while sailing and the galley are things we're keeping in mind. Thanks everyone!

 

[jgeissinger]

Apples and oranges. The Cat is a good looking, basic, fun boat that has a lot of room for the size, and you can get absolutely anything for it from several sources. The Santana is really more of a race boat, but Schock still has plenty of parts for these, too, and they are great to deal with. You should really sail on them before you decide.

 

[hriehl1]

Catalina will be just OK in its sailing characteristics, but (assuming swing-keel) more-easily trailered. Its accomodations will be somewhat roomier (and that sounds important to your crew).

The Santana, with fixed keel, won't be easily trailered. That's OK if you dock or moor, but if you are truly trailer-sailing, the Santana will be much more hassle launching and retrieving. It will perform notably better than the Catalina. I think accomodations are a bit less comfortable, but there's no centerboard trunk as on the Catalina.

Catalina replacement parts easily-obtained, I'm less sure about Santana.

Can't go wrong with either, just consider how you'll be using the boat.