Catalina 36 MKii vs Beneteau Oceanis 361

[jarcher]

Hi All...

I asked this question in the Beneteau section and someone rightly suggested I ask it here as well...

The thread over there is:

https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/b361-vs-catalina-36-mkii.186797/

My apologies if this is considered a cross post!

That other thread explains it, but short story is I'm considering purchase of a 36 foot cruiser and am looking at the B631 and also the Catalina 36 MKii. I would appreciate any comments and thoughts about how the two compare and of course anything I should watch out for on the Catalina.

Thanks!

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

You can see on the comparison I attached there isn't much difference by the numbers.

Build quality is similar but I personally feel that Catalinas have the edge. I like lead keels better than cast iron. Benny's have adequate rigging and hardware but Catalinas are slightly oversized.

Get on both boats and see which one really does it for you.

 

[jarcher]

Nice chart, thank you.

 

[Stu Jackson]

There's an entire high quality website for the Catalina 36: www.c36ia.org. Don't know if Beneteau has one.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Nice chart, thank you.

The chart is from Sail Pro Calculator. It let's you quickly compare two boats.

 

[LakeOntario270]

You should also look at a Catalina 34 Mk II which I think is nicer than the 36.

 

[Cmp1110]

I second lead keels over cast iron
Our last boat had cast iron and once the rust starts its forever.

 

[Stu Jackson]

You should also look at a Catalina 34 Mk II which I think is nicer than the 36.

Who am I to argue?
Interestingly the stats on the boats are almost identical. www.c34ia.org and www.c36ia.org

The differences are be layouts down below: aft head on the C34.

There are a number of comparison threads on our C34 forum. Here is one of many:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4991.0.html

Both great boats.

 

[jarcher]

Thanks! I'll check that out.

 

[ArkadiyS]

You should also look at a Catalina 34 Mk II which I think is nicer than the 36.

We were also in the market for a Cat 34, moving up from Cat 30 TR! We were very disappointed with the volume of storage that Cat 34 had, as compared to our Cat 30. We crawled all over one of the 34s for sale, and walked away pulling Cat 34 from our target boat list. We really had more storage on our Cat 30. We did a lot of overnights and multi-day cruises, and had 4 folding bikes, 2 inflatable kayaks, and other stuff, along with our bags, etc. If storage is of no great concern, Cat 34 is a great boat.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@jarcher
People will suggest certain models over others to include manufacturers, comparison charts and so forth but in the end both your other half and you unless you are single, I suggested purchasing the boat that pleases the most as you will keep it longer. Sure I lost a few sales but the respect that was given to me for that comment proved my theory and that also included the trailerable sailboats.