Pop top or not?

[jrowan]

I second Bilbo about the not sailing or even motoring with the pop top in the up position. That lil slide with the knob is crap for hardware to hold up over 75 lbs over your head. Ours slambed down on our previous 85 C 25 & scared me good. Man, if your head or hand were in the way when that thing slams down, Ouch!

 

[Bilbo]

A friend of mine removed his off his race made boat he carefully weighed it all total was exactly 750 pounds... His goal was to get his pop top model more competive to the none poptop boats he is racing against, he wanted to get is boat below 2000 pounds. He did it. More work than any sane person might want to attempt, but that's racing.

Ken, I hate to also disagree with you but think about this. If the pop-top and sliding companionway hatch weighed 750 lbs, who would be able to lift it? The cast iron keel weighs only 550. I'm thinking that a decimal point may be off in this. I've also seen where the advantage of a lighter boat is in the lighter winds.

 

[GorillaToast]

My boom kicker and vang need to be moved out of the way. Unattach the kicker from the base of the boom and swivel it to the side then loosen the vang about 8 ft of line and the top can be raised and locked.

Nah. Too much work. Besides, I like living in closets. Lol

 

[Ken]

After much thought I agree with you on the weight, so I once again ask the bean counter, yep he's a CPA. He stands on his weight. Explaining this way; it wasn't just a case of lifting off the poptop but removing near the entire top of the boat to make it into a non pop top....... Even after his explanation I doubt his weight. But seeing his weight reduction charts are impressive....

 

[Bilbo]

.......... it wasn't just a case of lifting off the poptop but removing near the entire top of the boat to make it into a non pop top....... Even after his explanation I doubt his weight. But seeing his weight reduction charts are impressive....

He probably is including the removal of everything in that weight reduction. Pop-top, hull liner, seat cushions, kitchen sink, bilge rats, the keys to his old '74 Vega, Jimmy Hoffa..........

I actually wonder if it's be class legal to simply make/reproduce a hull to the exact (as possible) same shape. There has been some significant improvements in glassing since the 70's. Carbon fibers, kevlar, vac-bagging and all that. One could make a stronger hull for much less weight...of course on the down side, the cost would be a tad up there and us 22 ers have a fine time of it with what we've got on the cheap.

 

[jfrench]

<<My wife and I enjoyed many overnight sailing trips on our Ericson...Is the pop top worth holding out until I can find one?>>

If you want to overnight on a Cat 22, my personal opinion is that you should hold out for the New Design ('86 and later). You also get a usable galley. Many of the older boats have a removable "slide-out" galley that receives little but ridicule regarding its practicality. The new design has a built-in sink with a remote 5-gallon water supply available through a manually pumped faucet. Next to the sink is a small but usable formica countertop with a trash can hidden under a removable panel. Across the aisle is a two-burner alcohol stove. And there is a sit-down dinette table that can convert into a bed (for those shorter than 5 feet). The "step" to enter and exit the cabin is a large Coleman cooler for food storage. Everything is laid out in a usable way, and an overnight for two adults is perfectly do-able. The closer you get to the end of the season, the lower the prices will get (although they'r pretty darned low already). Hold out for one that isn't a fix-up project.

Check out the pictures of the new design interior at this link:
http://catalina.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&Itemid=254&page=showad&adid=13915

This boat is for sale right here in the forum classifieds. It also shows a snap-on wrap around fabric enclosure for the pop-top.

Oh, by the way... if you have a big honkin' tow vehicle, or plan to keep it in the water, the Catalina 25 is a no apologies overnighter for two! I've included a picture of a well-matched Cat 25 tow vehicle for reference:

 

[CaptGregg]

I'm 5'6 and a non-pop top owner, I have never owned a pop top so I have nothing to reference. I like mine, only thing I don't like is not being able to stand up and put my pants on but other than that, I'm good.

 

[jrowan]

"I've included a picture of a well-matched Cat 25 tow vehicle for reference: "
Nice tow vehicle! Those VW Bugs are a lil more powerful then I remebered. lol.
Ps. We used to have a C 25 w/ a trailer & I never towed the darned thing, even with our big V 6 van cause I didn't want to blow up our tranny. Plus that boat is wide & loves to fish tail. We kept ours in the water all season till we upgraded to a bigger boat. Cheers.

 

[StanFM]

We looked at a couple pop-tops, but decided it wasn't a deal maker one way or the other. It seemed heavy to lift, and without an enclosure to go with it, we didn't see the difference in standing in the opening with the hatch slid back to put your pants on, or standing under the pop top to put your pants on. The bimini on our boat is mounted such that it hangs partly over the opening anyway. Think of the added exercise you'll get each morning doing the worm dance trying to get into your fashion-tight jeans while writhing on the settee.

Stan