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Garage, Galley & Hangar
GG&H
Technical Owner's Manual
Catalina 30FIG. 1
29.92'
CATALINA YACHTS
Catalina 30
The Complete Owner's Reference
REV 1.0 · 135 PP
SAILBOAT · 29.92'
GARAGE, GALLEY & HANGAR
9 chapters · 97-term glossary · 81-entry index
Sailboat · Catalina Yachts

Catalina 30

Designed by Frank Butler and built from the mid-1970s into 2008 (roughly 6,400 to 6,500 hulls), the Catalina 30 is one of the best-selling auxiliary sailboats ever made: a beamy, stiff, high-volume coastal cruiser with standing headroom and up to seven berths. It suits a family or couple who want an easy-handling, affordable, well-supported boat for coastal and near-coastal sailing across three Mark generations, not offshore passages. The book is honest about where a shiny topcoat hides real money: the wooden compression post that rots and drops the rig, the keel bolts and 'Catalina smile,' hidden chainplate crevice corrosion, and aging waterlogged rudders.

Digital book $29 · hardcover $129
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A sample of what's inside

Specifications

Length overall29.92 ft (29 ft 11 in)
Beam10.83 ft (10 ft 10 in)
Displacement10,200 lb (ballast ~4,200 to 4,300 lb lead, B/D ~41%)
Keel / rigMasthead sloop; deep fin 5 ft 3 in, shoal 4 ft 5 in, or wing 3 ft 10 in; standard (I 41 ft) or tall (I 43 ft) rig, bowsprit optional
EngineEarly Atomic 4 gas, then Universal M-25 / M-25XP diesel (3-cyl, ~21 to 23 hp); diesel-only from Oct 1988
Used market~$10k to $35k, condition-driven (Mark generation and rig set the spread)

Known issues, covered honestly

  • The deck-stepped mast loads a wooden compression post onto an oak block in the bilge that rots when water pools there, settling the rig; binding head and V-berth doors are the ten-second tell.
  • Eight 3/4-inch keel bolts (mild steel and prone to rust on pre-1987 boats) plus a plywood keel stub let the joint open into the 'Catalina smile,' a keel drop that can run into the thousands.
  • Chainplates bolt to plywood bulkheads where trapped salt water drives hidden crevice corrosion, and early boats lacked the reinforced lower-shroud chainplates later versions got.
  • Early foam-core rudders waterlog and rust their internal steel armature; up-and-down play is normal, but side-to-side movement points to a blade that can turn independently of the stock.

…and the full survey guide, service schedules, systems, and parts sourcing in the complete volume.

Custom Edition

Make it your boat.

We fold in your year, your engine, your electronics and refits, your hull number, and your vessel name and your own boat's photo on the cover. The book stops describing the boat that left the factory and starts describing the one in your slip.

$260
personalized to your vessel