FairKeel → Buyer's guides → Catalina 400
1994–2012 · designed by Frank Butler / Gerry Douglas · built by Catalina Yachts
Catalina's larger cruising-spec offering, sitting above the Catalina 36 Mk II in the line. Designed for serious coastal cruising and limited bluewater work by capable owners — deeper bilge, larger fuel + water tanks, two-cabin layout, more usable interior volume than the 36. Not a dedicated offshore platform but materially closer than smaller Catalinas. Same Gerry Douglas design-office DNA as the Catalina 36 Mk II.
Check this first — a wing keel was offered against the standard fin. Draft and ballast distribution both change with it, and so does how she behaves aground — a wing keel that settles into mud is harder to recover than a fin. Confirm which this hull carries.
This is a general read on the Catalina 400 class — informed background, not a verdict on any individual boat. Condition, refit history, and how a particular hull was sailed and stored matter far more than class reputation. Use it to know what to look for; for a read on a specific listing, run a free FairKeel report on that boat.
Original wire + stainless chainplates on most hulls reaching age limit (1995-built rigs now 30+ years; 2007-built rigs at 18+). Deck-stepped mast; check deck core under mast step. Chainplate leaks into deck core around shrouds are the recurring issue — same pattern as Catalina 36 Mk II.
Moisture-meter survey essential. Same class-pattern as Catalina 36 Mk II — Catalina build of this era is generally tighter than earlier production but not immune. Targeted areas: stanchions, genoa tracks, chainplates, mast step, traveller.
Standard Yanmar diesel. Service intervals well-documented; parts readily available. Heat exchanger + raw-water pump + mixing elbow are typical 30-year wear items. Check hours, oil-change records.
Larger Catalinas of this era shipped with more substantial tankage and electrical packages than the 36 Mk II — confirm installed capacity and condition before pricing against intended use. Original house-bank setups are often undersized for modern liveaboard use.
This guide is the class. A report is that hull. Paste the listing you're looking at and FairKeel grades every claim in it against what's known about the Catalina 400 — where the evidence is thin, the red flags worth a second look, the costs likely to land in your first season, and whether the boat suits the plans you describe in a few short questions.
It won't read the photos or put a number on the boat — that's the $249 Deep-Dive, and for the real answer, a surveyor. It will tell you when a Deep-Dive isn't worth buying. Free, no account, usually a minute or two.
Run a free report on your listing →Other people's videos, not ours, and not endorsements — walkthroughs and reviews of this class that are worth watching before you look at one in person.
See something that doesn't look right? We'd love to know — email us about the Catalina 400 →