Rough Water At The "New Catalina"

[KenKrawford]

In May of 2025, Cruising World magazine reported the sale of Catalina Yachts to Michael Reardon, founder and CEO of Daedalus Yachts. I had never heard of Daedalus Yachts before and just assumed it was an established shipbuilder. No one mentioned that Daedalus apparently hadn’t sold a boat yet. Now, it seems unlikely that it will, unless you count the one that’s half built in the for-sale photos for the factory building. The 38,400-square-foot building is listed for $3.5 million.
To make matters worse it appears that Michael Reardon, the new Catalina owner has failed to make rent payments for the Catalina facility he was leasing. On top of that a Catalina employee reports that “The new owner, Michael Reardon, had not paid our wages for the past two months and our insurance was cancelled. We had meeting today and hopefully we will be back in two weeks when the owner pays and the vendors”.
Links to articles. :
https://loosecannon.substack.com/p/hmmm ... irect=true
https://loosecannon.substack.com/p/cata ... irect=true

I'd bet that Frank Butler is rolling over in his grave.

[ElizabethG]

Son of a B*itch.

I hope the employees hang in there for a little while longer.

Dealers must be going berserk...

Boat shows taking place over the past couple of weeks...

Buyer's deposits on boats to be built...

Warranty service...

Technical support...

Parts...

What a mess!

Thanks for the update Ken!!!

[JohnNorton]

OUCH ! Perhaps Catalina is going the way of Hunter yachts. Perhaps this explains why a new listing for a 425 is priced so low. Wishing and hoping this does not play out wrong for us Catalina owners/ buyers.

[JohnNorton]

There is a video report by Practical Sailor that is pretty informative regarding Mr. Reardon and the brands he now owns. Pretty scary.

[wolfe10]

There is a video report by Practical Sailor that is pretty informative regarding Mr. Reardon and the brands he now owns. Pretty scary.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0lazkTyfFU

[tranquil]

Thanks for the info & link. Questions:

1. Would Catalina owners of all sizes of yachts be amenable to "chipping in" to support if the Butler family and/or enployees took back control / ownership of Catalina Yachts until is sold to a reputable buyer with a far more stringent contract and validated funding? Would any of us? What about the other Catalina owners associations and Fleets?

2. Does anyone have current contact with Warren or Gerry or any former Catalina employee? If so, would you be willing to run this idea past them for feedback and possible next steps?

Thanks
Teri