Catalina 25 Pop Top

[LTDT]

OK, this may be a dumb question...the Cat 25 manual says not to sail with the Pop Top extended, yet I have seen several pics where the boat is underway and the top is up???? Has anyone tried to permanently replace the Pop Top with a solid structure?? having that additional headroom all the time would really make a difference as we will be living aboard. I know it would likely be a major refit, but that is what we are going to do anyway, what's one more project!

Thoughts??

 

[Mikem]

The reason for not sailing with the pop top up has to do with water integrity. Should the boat suffer a knockdown with the pop top up it would immediately founder and sink. Has a solid structure been built before. We had one for 7 plus years and I never saw that done on the Catalina Capri 25 forum. That solid structure would make it difficult to see while at the tiller in the cockpit. If budget and moorage permit a Catalina 27 would certainly provide more room especially if you plan to live aboard.

 

[LTDT]

Thanks, appreciate your input! And yes a 27 would be better....but I have a 25 so I have to make do I guess.

 

[Stu Jackson]

You can't use a vang with the top up.

 

[Kingjim91]

I had a C22 with the snap-on cover, which was great for overnights on the mooring. But I would never sail with the top up because of the possibility of an accidental collapse.
I’ve seen a C22 with a plywood panel on each side, supporting the top. It would at least take care of an accidental collapse. Very basic, but you could make it much more elegant without a major refit.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Should the boat suffer a knockdown with the pop top up it would immediately founder and sink.

You don't need a knockdown. All you need is serious water over the bow and into the interior. My friend left his fwd hatch open crossing SF Bay one "calm" day, hit a ferry wake and spent the entire weekend cleaning up his cushions. Not fun, 'cuz his wife was coming and that's where they slept!!!
Cushions do NOT like salt water, takes forever to clean up.
Even "regular" water is not fun when things get soaked. We had cushions and indoor/outdoor carpeting on our C25 saloon.
As benign as any day seems, my fwd hatch and saloon hatch are always dogged shut, even when it's hot out.
I can always open them when I arrive.
We had a pop top C25 with a canvas enclosure for 13 years. Great boat, neat feature. Ya don't need standing headroom when you're sailing.

Good luck.

 

[Alansails]

On our 25 we had a cover for the pop top also BUT NEVER sailed with anything up not even the forward hatch....
aside from not wanting a wet bunk, its very unsafe!

 

[Nick Navin]

Has anyone built a custom enclosure for the pop-top maybe with boat glass and screens ? I have seen pics of the one that Catalina sells . But never a home bolt cover .