I am thinking about buying a 1978 Columbia 9.6 priced at $9K. The
boat has a 13hp Volvo diesel that seems to run okay. Older main and
jib sail. No roller furling, or any other extras.

The other boat, a 1985 Catalina 30 is $21K, with a 21HP Universal.
Though I have never seen this specific boat, the owners have taken
great care of her.

Does anyone have experience with the Columbia 9.6? I would like to
know how it handles in the water. We are day sailers, and I plan to
use the boat to help teach my kids how to sail on weekends. The boat
will be used in Lake Erie.

Any information on the Columbia 9.6 and how it sails would be
appreciated. Thank-you.

R. Gray

While I can't speak to the Columbia, I can to the Catalina 30.
I owned an 88 std. rig. It was and still is a great boat!
It was a joy to sail, fast, forgiving and comfortable.
After nearly 7 years I sold it for exactly what I paid for it. Of course I
had maintained it very well and upgraded it quite a bit. I don't think you
can go wrong if it passes a good survey.

Good luck

I am thinking about buying a 1978 Columbia 9.6 priced at $9K. The
boat has a 13hp Volvo diesel that seems to run okay. Older main and
jib sail. No roller furling, or any other extras.

The other boat, a 1985 Catalina 30 is $21K, with a 21HP Universal.
Though I have never seen this specific boat, the owners have taken
great care of her.

Does anyone have experience with the Columbia 9.6? I would like to
know how it handles in the water. We are day sailers, and I plan to
use the boat to help teach my kids how to sail on weekends. The boat
will be used in Lake Erie.

Any information on the Columbia 9.6 and how it sails would be
appreciated. Thank-you.

R. Gray


I owned a 9.6 for three very fulfilling years. She'd been repowered by a 19HP Kubota,
did have roller furling. I lived aboard while divorcing and found that as a mobile home,
she made a better sports car. But WHAT a sports-car....she was an absolute witch
under sail--I was the terror of my sailing grounds, single-handedly smoking most relative
peers on all points of sail. I drank a lot then, and was certainly not completely alert
every time I was underway... She was so nimble and precise that I never got into any
trouble. I'd casually sail into my slip with no crew, after three 90-degree turns out of the
channel...

The model is not so carefully built, yet I wager no less stout than the Catalina. Both
employ similar philisophies of design and construction. I truly miss the pilot berths with
which that model is equipped.

I ended up trading that (effective) thirty-two footer for another thirty-two footer weighing
three tons more. I have gobs more living space, and weep every time I raise the sail on
my aquatic minivan....

For daysailing, I'd bet you'll get roughly comparable results from either model you are
considering. I suspect the 9.6 was a little more racing-oriented. For my money, I'd likely
opt for the cheaper Columbia, but I like working on boats and restoring ancient
systems and smiling through various self-inflicted wounds....

Good luck with your process.

Cheers-

Boyd

I believe that the Columbia is less prone to deck delamination problems than
the Cat. Still I'd take the cat for it's better interior and steady re-sale
value.

RB
C&C 32
NY

I would agree in general with the post below. The Columbia is more
stripped out and very likely the better sailing vessel, i.e more fun
but merely adequate in the cruising dept., whereas the Catalina 30 is
fine and roomy for a 30 footer, but less of a pure sailing vessel in
terms of performance.

Would I prefer to sail a Columbia 9.6. Yes.
Would I prefer to spend a weekend at dock on a Catalina 30? Yes.

So you decide. They are both decent boats, but if you are doing
sailing for sailing's sake, the 9.6 is the better deal by far. If the
C. 30 is your first cruising boat, go that way. Neither boat is wrong,
just less or more right for you.

R.

On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 17:04:49 GMT, "dboyd"
wrote:


I am thinking about buying a 1978 Columbia 9.6 priced at $9K. The
boat has a 13hp Volvo diesel that seems to run okay. Older main and
jib sail. No roller furling, or any other extras.

The other boat, a 1985 Catalina 30 is $21K, with a 21HP Universal.
Though I have never seen this specific boat, the owners have taken
great care of her.

Does anyone have experience with the Columbia 9.6? I would like to
know how it handles in the water. We are day sailers, and I plan to
use the boat to help teach my kids how to sail on weekends. The boat
will be used in Lake Erie.

Any information on the Columbia 9.6 and how it sails would be
appreciated. Thank-you.

R. Gray


I owned a 9.6 for three very fulfilling years. She'd been repowered by a 19HP Kubota,
did have roller furling. I lived aboard while divorcing and found that as a mobile home,
she made a better sports car. But WHAT a sports-car....she was an absolute witch
under sail--I was the terror of my sailing grounds, single-handedly smoking most relative
peers on all points of sail. I drank a lot then, and was certainly not completely alert
every time I was underway... She was so nimble and precise that I never got into any
trouble. I'd casually sail into my slip with no crew, after three 90-degree turns out of the
channel...

The model is not so carefully built, yet I wager no less stout than the Catalina. Both
employ similar philisophies of design and construction. I truly miss the pilot berths with
which that model is equipped.

I ended up trading that (effective) thirty-two footer for another thirty-two footer weighing
three tons more. I have gobs more living space, and weep every time I raise the sail on
my aquatic minivan....

For daysailing, I'd bet you'll get roughly comparable results from either model you are
considering. I suspect the 9.6 was a little more racing-oriented. For my money, I'd likely
opt for the cheaper Columbia, but I like working on boats and restoring ancient
systems and smiling through various self-inflicted wounds....

Good luck with your process.

Cheers-

Boyd

So you decide. They are both decent boats, but if you are doing
sailing for sailing's sake, the 9.6 is the better deal by far. If the
C. 30 is your first cruising boat, go that way. Neither boat is wrong,
just less or more right for you.

And then you might want to look at good Pearson 30, a boat that outsails the
Catalina as well and is better put togther than either. Average cost = 15K.

Capt RB
C&C 32
NY

On 21 Sep 2003 12:02:45 GMT, (Bobsprit) wrote:

So you decide. They are both decent boats, but if you are doing
sailing for sailing's sake, the 9.6 is the better deal by far. If the
C. 30 is your first cruising boat, go that way. Neither boat is wrong,
just less or more right for you.

And then you might want to look at good Pearson 30, a boat that outsails the
Catalina as well and is better put togther than either. Average cost = 15K.

The Pearson 30 is an excellent boat and a great sailer, but is even
more into "old school" sailing than the Columbia 9.6, and is likely to
have an antique set of hank-on sails and one old car battery in it to
power the nav lights and maybe the LORAN G.

Sounds like heaven to me, but I am very much in the minority. The
Pearson 30 is probably the safest of the lot in a seaway, however,
being conservatively built and bulletproof, or nearly so. If I lived
in the U.S. Northeast or the Maritimes, I'd pop for the Pearson. On
the Great Lakes, you aren't going to have particularly grim conditions
(unless you choose to stay in the water into November...), and so can
have a lighter, more "convenient" vessel.

Or you could get a Grampian 30 or a Contessa for the truly nautical
feeling G.

Get any boat you come close to purchasing surveyed. It's a 300 buck
reality check that can help leverage the price in your favour.

R.

The Pearson 30 is an excellent boat and a great sailer, but is even
more into "old school" sailing than the Columbia 9.6, and is likely to
have an antique set of hank-on sails and one old car battery in it to
power the nav lights and maybe the LORAN G.

Pearson 30 was built between 1971 and 1981, I believe. Pretty much the same
era, but more of a sailors boat. Most have been updated. Mine had factory
wheel, along with furling and full batten main. Most alberg 30's I see these
days have furling! I now sail a C&C 32, which is faster and more refined...but
the P30 was a heck of a boat.

Capt RB
C&C 32
NY