Catalina 355 Sailboats For Sale

The Catalina 355, designed by Gerry Douglas, is an extremely popular production model noted for interior volume that often reads larger than its nominal size. High freeboard and a wide beam provide a spacious two-cabin, one-head arrangement; layout choices and finish details emphasize liveaboard-style comfort within a coastal cruising platform. The salon is light and configurable—the port settee converts to a two-seat or cocktail-table arrangement, while the dining table has leaves that fold out to form a full-size table and can drop down to form a double berth—providing flexibility for guests without altering the basic two-cabin plan.

Deck and cockpit ergonomics are consistent across listings: a spacious cockpit, wide side decks and a walk-through transom facilitate movement aboard, and all sail handling can be carried out from the cockpit. Those features make handling and deck work more straightforward than on designs that require more frequent foredeck access. A shoal wing keel option is mentioned on examples, allowing access to shallower anchorages that deeper keels might preclude.

Interior appointments cited in current examples include Ultraleather upholstery, innerspring mattresses, an above-counter vessel basin and a freshwater-flush electric head—specifications that reflect a level of finishing aimed at weekend and coastal cruising comfort. Inventory and rigging fit vary by boat; one example highlights an extensive sail inventory and a significant sailing-performance upgrade in the form of a Doyle UPS gennaker with bowsprit and furler, which improves off‑wind sail options when fitted.

Recent listings of individual boats illustrate typical use patterns for the model: examples have been used for day sailing and weekending, have transited regional waters such as the Chesapeake Bay, and have been hauled and winterized in preparation for seasonal storage. These operational notes give a practical sense of how owners commonly employ the Catalina 355 as a coastal cruiser.