Annapolis Boat show 2010

[Roc]

Interesting observation....I notice on my 2010 Boat Show calendar (in which the picture was taken in 2009), there appears to be 8 boats on display at the Catalina dock area.  This year, there were only 4 boats on display. 

[Joe Kern]

I just got back into town and work beckons so my quick summary is that I really liked a lot of what I saw.  Storage in the cockpit area seemed much different and it was crowded so I did not get to lift up the seats in the cockpit area.  The port lazerrette was open and appeared massive and I am not sure where all that room came from.  Basically a lot of upgrades to the interior almost all of which I liked.  Exterior stuff like the lifeline height and bare lines, the bowspirit, toe-rails etc all seemed like upgrades.   Did anyone see the unusual vertical mounted flat winch on the rear of the mast facing aft?  I saw it on other boats at the show.  I guessed it had something to do with the roller furling but am not sure.

[Clay Greene]

I also spent a couple of days at the Annapolis show and was much more impressed with the C355 in person than I was with the photos.  As the "new kid on the block," it seemed to get the most attention of the 4 boats Catalina brought to the show.  

In addition to the comments everyone else has made about the 355, I like the new port and starboard mounting for the instruments to keep the pedestal guard clear looking forward.  It was interesting to see how far forward the mast was compared to our boats.  I imagine that would make for a larger mainsail and more overlap with the 150.  That allowed the compression post to be moved to the bulkhead wall and made the interior seem a bit bigger.  The v-berth seemed smaller than on our boats but there was room for an actual door that opened and closed instead of the accordian door we have on our boat.  The sidedecks seemed narrower than a Mark II boat but maybe that was my imagination.  The cabintop certainly seems higher than the Mark II boat but maybe not as high as the 350.  I do wonder about the choice of the Yanmar 29 hp engine - that seems like a step back from the M35 in the Mark II boats.  The head seemed to have more space than the Mark I or Mark II boats and moving the sink farther forward gets rid of the interference from the bulkhead, a major annoyance on our boat.  The front-opening refrigerator is an improvement over our boats but it seemed small.  

All in all, I liked the boat and would have to give it serious consideration if I was looking for a new boat in that size.  I guess that is not so surprising given its similarity to our boats.  Yet, when you look at the delta between a good used C34 and a new C355, it is an easy decision in my mind to go with the C34.  Not enough "bang" for the additional bucks. I think that is a general problem that Catalina has, competing with their older models for customers.  

[Roc]

I was surprised to see only ONE opening port in the salon!  Can't believe only one!  My C34 has four.  My wife also commented that the v-berth seemed smaller.  I didn't like the port and starboard instruments. I feel the view of the instruments (like depth in particular) should be in front of you when motoring through a narrow channel.  On my boat, I like to sit on the leeward coaming and I glance at the instruments on the pedestal.  If I was sitting on the leeward coaming on the C355, I would be sitting on two of them, and the other two would be way over on the windward side.

[Joe Kern]

Did anyone go on the Oyster 70?  What an incredible boat.  If we all go in together........

Also, not sure which boat it was (may have been the 45 ft Hanse), but one of the boats had a really nice nav station set-up facing to starboard with all the bells and whistles.  Plus when I sat in the chair (facing starboard) and looked just to the left at knee level there was a narrow 12 bottle wine refrigerator.  That just seemed kind of nice to put it within reach of the captain. 

Some beautiful boats, some ugly boats (just can't like the catamarans no matter how much I try) and seems like everyone has some new gadgets, most of which are silly but some of which really are improvements.  Lots of stuff to digest.  A few small purchases here and there but spent way below my budget.  Did spend too much time at the tent with the guy selling bi-focal polarized sunglasses.  Alas, part of growing older but not up.

[Clay Greene]

The Oyster was a jaw-dropper.  $4.1 million base price, probably an even $5 million nicely-outfitted.  An almost equally incredible boat but in a slightly more realistic price range was the Morris 42.  The interior looked as if it has been carved out of a single piece of wood.  Nice to see how the other one-tenth of one percent of the population sails. 

One thing that struck me about the show was the price escalation.  My boat cost approximately $60,000 new in 1989.   That would be roughly $100,000 today.  The base price of the C355 was $165,000 and fully-outfitted would be in the $190-$200K range.  There are probably 100 reasons why the C355 is a better boat than my C34 from a construction quality standpoint.  You could make arguments both ways on aesthetics.  But from an affordability perspective, where is the $100K cruising sailboat for the family?  Even a 309 will run you $135K and there is no way I am taking a week cruising trip with my 10 year old daughters on a 309. 

I was told by one of the vendors that the Catalina plant in St. Petersburg is very quiet.  Their dealers are not ordering boats on spec because there is no financing or it is very difficult to come by.  I'd hate to think that their business model is not sustainable. 

[Bill Asbury]

The Oyster comments remind me that I saw the retired chairman of American Airlines at the show some years ago and, knowing he was originally from Gloucester MA I figured he knew a bit about boats, so I asked what kind he had.  He said he was having an Oyster built in England and would be going over with his wife to sail it home.  Read later in WSJ that they had to do an extended layover in the Azores due to electrical/electronic problems...:-(

[kevMar]

Yes we went fri and sat what a great show ... We looked at ALOT of different sailboat and the Catalinas were the best !!!!  You cant beat a catalina for comfort and handling and looks Great Boat    The 44 was just awesome.. Found oput there is a new Catalina dealer in Oriental ...

[Bill Asbury]

FYI to Chesapeake area sailors:
There will be an open house at Sail Annapolis, the Annapolis-based Catalina dealer, from 10 to 4 on Sat. 10/23.
The 355 on display at the recent boat show will be available to see in the water by the Chart House.
www.sailannapolis.com
410 280 8878

[Joe Kern]

Did anyone else notice the very rough, unfinished look of the cabin ceiling in the 355?  I was not sure how bad it looked until I was on my boat this weekend and saw how smooth the finish.   Is that the new look or just because it was Hull # 1?

[Roc]

I always liked the cabin ceiling in my boat.  Very sturdy looking and aesthetically pleasing.  What I noticed for the C355 ceiling was what appeared to be a thermoformed piece of plastic, much like what you would see in a Hunter.  Cost aside, I wonder how Catalina rationalizes in using this method of covering the cabin ceiling.

[Joe Kern]

I agree.   It was very rough and too me almost looked like a rough layup of fiberglass.  I would think hard to keep clean and mold free and to me just looked unfinished.