A Catalina 320 doesn't need a bow thruster, so for me, it wouldn't be high on my list of stuff to buy for a boat. But, if you like the boat that has one, might as well think of it as a bonus. Someone said if you were going to race........well, I guess if I were going to race, I wouldn't buy a Catalina 320. It is a cruising boat and a bow thruster is a cruising amenity. I have been on 50-foot sailboats that have thrusters and it came in handy, especially when the tide was running. That's my 2 cents.
Bow thruster - is it a plus or minus?
- Thread starter Scott T-Bird
- Start date
I owned a 320 for 12 years and still remain active on the forums. A couple of things--the 320 is a surprisingly fast boat and does quite well in phrf. She is also quite easy to maneuver. However I am not aware that Catalina ever offered a thruster as a factory option on the 320.This is exactly the type of engineering logic that eases my mind. Reportedly, this bow-thruster was a factory option and the boat was designed and built with it. I didn't see any evidence that it was a retrofit. When I say that I'm concerned about performance, I'm not talking about racing performance. Sure, I want to casually race this boat, and the balance between comfort and performance seems to be favorable to me. The model seems to have a good reputation for performance and the phrf number, while not necessarily impressive for a racing boat, seems to be pretty respectable for the waterline length, regardless. That said, I could not care less if some imperceptible factor in the hull prevented me from moving up a few notches in the standings. I would only be concerned if somebody said "yeah, you'll be annoyed when you notice the squirrely handling and the noticeable drag when you're sailing". Nobody has said anything like that, so it eases my mind.
The weight doesn't bother me either. This would be another topic, but I don't really consider extra weight low down in the hull as a negative. I think of it as a benefit to stability. Wasn't that the reason for carrying granite blocks in the hulls of ships in the old days. The streets and curbs in New York & New Jersey are filled with the granite "Belgian Blocks" that came across as ships ballast!
I personally wouldn’t see a Thruster as a negative, just not something I would pay a premium for on that particular boat.
i currently have a 35 and would have no problem with a Thruster on this boat as we do keep her in a slip and having one as an option would not be a negative for me...
I agree with Daydreamer41 that that thruster is oversized for the boat. It’s also not deep enough. The top edge should be at least a tunnel diameter below the water. A tunnel set too high will come out of the water in normal waves greatly increasing drag. It’s also likely to suck air when you are using the thruster. This causes cavitation which makes the thruster pretty much useless. It’s hard to believe Catalina installed that.
not sure if it is correct but someone mentioned that on the Catalina 32 you had to take out a water tank to make room for the thruster tunnel and battery.