Catalina 387 or 400 or 42 MKII?

[PDReynolds]

Hi folks,

I am trading up and thinking very seriously of Catalina over Beneteau or similar boats.

We are looking at doing more long distance cruising between the US and Canada. Yacht world is full of 38-42 foot boats and I am looking for some direction from the current Catalina owners.

We could be living aboard for a couple of months in the summer.

Considering the Catalina 387, 400 or 42 MKII within 10 years old.

Need only 2 cabins.

Any advise is appreciated to guide our next purchase.

 

[Stu Jackson]

They're all completely different boats.

The C387 is what I believe a "stretch" C34. But the saloon isn't much bigger, the aft cabin is, and the V berth may not be as big as a C34. The C387 had a number of different incantations (can I say that without admitting I wasn't a hippie?). C380 morphed into the 387. Catalina was in the midst of an identity "crisis" of sorts.

The C400 is a true cruising boat but with two wheels. Your call if you like that sort of thing.

The C42 remains, in my mind, one of the finest large boats Frank and the Team have ever put together, that said they did some horrible belowdecks options, like the European starboard side galley which was a horrible layout. Why? A great waste of useable space for a saloon.

You will have to decide which of the various layouts you like, but in my opinion the later V berth forward with a single aft cabin and the great port side aft galley was the real winner. Many also like the two cabin pullman forward, but the forward head in the forepeak made little sense. Because of the various arrangements, it may be harder to find one that suits you. You may not have to limit yourself to a Mark II unless you're only dealing with the age of the boat, you did say 10 years, so the switch to the Mark IIs in the early 90s does that, age-wise.

Happy hunting.

 

[Lady Jane]

There are a number of interesting differences between the 42 and 400 that we found prior to buying our 400.

The twin wheels on the 400 give a few subtle benefits. First, a very nice wide passage through the cockpit that is obstructed by the single wheel of the 42. In addition, the "swim platform" is considerably bigger on the 400 than the 42. Seating and cockpit is a bit more on the 400.

My wife hated the galley on the 42 because the aft area of the galley is obstructed by the cockpit well. Even though she is only 5'4", she always hit her head everytime she walked into it. The 400 galley is much more open.

We prefered the salon of the 42 as it was positioned more in the most beamy part of the boat, so it semed larger. The 400 salon is placed a bit forward, making it smaller.

At first, we prefered the pullman on the 42, but became convinced the aft cabin on the 400 was considerably more livable. The center berth on newer 42s are quite nice and give the benefit of good air flow through the front hatch at anchor. This is less of an issue for us as we have twin air conditioners and generator on our 400.

My wife does not like the keel stepped mast leading directly through the middle of the salon on the 400 as it breaks up the salon. The 42 has its mast or compression post near the bulkhead in the pullman cabin. Clear benefit to the 42.

The 400 has a guest stateroom in the bow, the 42 has its guest stateroom the aft. We did not feel strongly about either boat in this respect. Both boats have two heads.

Our 400 sails excellent in most any wind as I am sure the 42 does also.

I think the selling point of the 400 is its quite large aft cabin, galley and large wide cockpit. The selling point of the 42 is its roomy salon and headroom in the forward stateroom.

Lady Jane's Husband

 

[taylort100]

We just traded up from a C&C 29MkII for exactly the same reasons you mention. A good ailing boat but with good accomodations was critical to us. We eventually narrowed down to the Beneteau 400 and the Catalina 380. Looked at other Bene's and Jeanneau's but couldn't find a Jeane in our price range and ruled out all other Bene's except the 400. Sailed a 400 and were impressed. But then we started looking at catalina 380s and bought one. In hindsight we are glad we didn't go with the 400. The pullman would have been bad for us - now with that huge double centerline berth we could never consider anything else. The 380 sails very well and the controls are traditional - again in hindsight, those all cabintop controls would have been bad.
We had mentioned the 42MII to our broker - we was of the opinion that the draft was too short to provide good handling - but we never tested that out. Remember that costs rise rapidly with size - we feel that 38 is plenty so long as its well designed. But then, a month ago we moored alongside a Catalina 470 - lots of drooling.

Good luck

Tom

 

[Phantomsailor]

Happy boat hunting. I am a little biased in that I own a C-42mkII 2 cabin pullman. We also liveaboard. I've also raced aboard a C-42mkII 2 cabin pullman in the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii where we finished 3rd in our division. My wife and I also crewed on a mkI pullman in the Baha HaHa. We find the pullman layout to be perfect for us. IMHO the forward head is great and there is a wonderful & roomy shower up there. Granted, in a rough sea, the forward head may not be the best place to be but there is the aft head for use in that case. I don't remember a time when we couldn't use the forward head on either the Pacific Cup or the HaHa. We regularly used the forward head to take showers during both trips. The pullman makes a great sea berth if a lee cloth or board is rigged. My 5'2" wife loves the galley. I think you get used to the cockpit well intruding slightly into the space. We did look at a C-400 before buying our 42 and I banged my head pretty hard in the aft cabin so go figure. I also don't like the high bridge deck (necessary to accomodate the aft cabin) in the cockpit when going below on the 400 though the high bridge deck may come in handy if the boat is ever "pooped" by a big sea. Alas, Catalina stopped building C-42s at hull #1022. Enjoy your search!