, I would venture to say that there were more Catalina sailboats sold in US than any other brand. The owners who I know were quite satisfied with their purchase. Read a couple years ago that approximately 20,000 Catalina’s 22s were sold & thousands of Catalina 30s also.
Yes in the PAST they were successful.
They built decent boats for a reasonable price, for a market that had normal families buying sailboats.
Clearly they aren't successful now. Otherwise they wouldn't have sold off their parts to raise funds. Their factory assets are apparently worth a mere million dollars.
Their announcement of planning to build a boat that was upmarket and more in keeping with design trends, was clearly an attempt to reinvent the brand to attract new buyers
Lots of satisfied owners out there and would continue to support the brand over foreign made boats.
Clearly not enough to keep the lights on. They are out of business for a reason.
Even now the main new nvestor saw no value and walked away
There are enough older boats available out there, that it hurts sales of new ones to the small market that wants monohull sailboats. Look in your local marina, you don't see a majority of newer boats.
Use their most popular boat for example... The most sought after Catalina 22s for the large racing fleet, are the original ones out of the factory, due to their lower weight. For a mini cruiser, the "New Design" C22 is much better than the last model they made.
With a smaller market, it's likely that European companies could fill current demand and stay solvent. Cruising Cats and Power cats are where the big growth is unfortunately.
Maybe If Catalina switched to making stink pots... pontoon and wake boats.... Lots of people buying those.
