Association Forum - Aux power - port or starboard?

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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Aux power - port or starboard?

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Jasonconradt
Deckhand

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USA
14 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/21/2006 : 15:41:41

The Tech Tips article titled "Shopping for a Catalina 25" has some pretty strong words for port-mounted kickers:

"The outboard is supposed to be mounted on the STARBOARD side of the transom. If you see a C-25 with the outboard mounted on the PORT side, some previous owner goofed. The boat will be poorly balanced, with a marked list to port, and it's sailing performance will be poor on Starboard tack. You will occasionally find these, most often installed by a former owner of a Catalina 22, which has the outboard on the port side, wherein he (or she) incorrectly assumed that the C-25 would also have the outboard on the port side."

Perusing through the Gallery, I see members have kickers mounted both port and starboard, just curious what others think about this subject.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 08/21/2006 : 16:58:45

The tech tips article on shopping is full of good advice. The part about rejecting a port mounted engine in nonsense. Mine is port mounted, as are all the early boats. There is no list with the water tank 3/4 full (its on starboard). I also carry 7 to 10 gallons of fuel on the port side. My batteries are on starboard, and I am always careful when cruise loading 2000 lbs of stuff to make sure the boat stays even.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 08/21/2006 : 19:11:17

Port was stock on the earlier boats. IMHO It's easier to reach down to steer and shift with the engine on that side. Don't see any noticable list in my boat with the engine mounted there.

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aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 10:32:50

My 88 wing tr had the motor mounted on port by the dealer. He goofed. I had it remounted on starboard and eleminated a 4 degree list. It drove me nuts until I had it fixed. I believe Catalina moved the motor to starboard when the the wing keel was introduced and they shifted the batteries to midships - 1985?

Edited by - aeckhart on 08/23/2006 10:34:58

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5895 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 11:50:40

On C25s before 1981, the motor was mounted on the port side, and the boat usually had a slight list to port. In 1981, Catalina started mounting them on the starboard side, which cured the list. I saw one boat (about 1986-7) with the motor mounted on port, but believe it was a mistake, as Al said happened to his boat.

I've sailed C25s with motors mounted on port and starboard, and haven't seen any significant difference in performance. If I had one that was port-mounted, I wouldn't bother to change it. I wouldn't consider it a factor at all in deciding whether to buy it.

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 11:55:06

Mine on port with no problems. Cheers.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 18:23:30

my boat has a slight list to whatever side I'm sitting on :)

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 19:56:41

In that case Jim, my boat has a huge list on the side I am sitting on. Cheers.

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Jasonconradt
Deckhand

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USA
14 Posts

Response Posted - 08/24/2006 : 12:16:13

If the only rationale for this statement is balance relative to the installation of other fixed / heavy objects like the batteries and water tank, then port would make sense at least for my 78 dinette. Both of the aforementioned items are under the long starboard seat.

Thanks for your feedback gentlemen!

Edited by - on

Bill Holcomb
Admiral

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USA
769 Posts

Response Posted - 08/25/2006 : 08:52:22

Hi All,
Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Some interesting rumors out there.

The actual reason that there was a change from port to starboard for the motor mount was much more pragmatic. The earlier boats had a large portside cockpit locker which included a tray for the engine fuel tank. It was very easy to access the transom from this cockpit locker. Hence the motor mount on the port side. The later models have a seperate fuel locker molded into the portside cockpit seat aft near the transom. This fuel locker made installing the motor mount to port almost impossible - at best, very difficult. So from a production point of view, Catalina began cutting an access hatch in the interior liner at the aft end of the quarter berth so as to access the transom on the starboard side. Hence the move from port side in the earlier models to the starboard side later on was for easier, less costly installation of the motor mount.

So, while the tips for buying a used C25 are generally pretty good, the part about the motor mount should be ignored..............unless you are interested in buying only a newer boat.

Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/26/2006 : 08:34:33

Hi Bill, that is interesting. I have a 1977 with a port side engine mount and the cut out at the end of the quarter birth. Cheers.

Edited by - on

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.