We compiled 3,161 active used sailboat listings across 697 models from multiple sources. Here's what the data actually shows about what sailors are asking — and what you should expect to pay.
If you've spent any time searching for a used sailboat, you know how hard it is to gauge whether a listing is fairly priced. Sellers rarely show their hand, and the gap between asking price and sold price is largely invisible. To help sailors make more informed decisions, we built a system to track asking prices across multiple listing platforms — and the results are revealing.
The dataset currently covers 3,161 active listings across 697 sailboat models. Prices are scraped regularly and filtered using statistical methods to remove obvious data errors. Here's what we found.
Listing volume is a rough proxy for popularity — the boats that appear most often are the ones with the largest installed fleets and the most active resale markets. Unsurprisingly, the top of the list reads like a greatest-hits of American production sailing from the 1970s through the 1990s.
| # | Boat | Listings | Median Price | Range | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalina 30 | 172 | $15,500 | $200 – $30,000 | |
| 2 | Catalina 27 | 88 | $4,900 | $700 – $19,500 | |
| 3 | Catalina 22 trailer avail. | 73 | $5,000 | $1,000 – $12,500 | |
| 4 | Catalina 36 | 49 | $42,000 | $5,000 – $99,500 | |
| 5 | Catalina 34 | 48 | $34,000 | $18,900 – $69,900 | |
| 6 | Hobie 16 trailer avail. | 43 | $1,000 | $200 – $3,200 | |
| 7 | Catalina 25 trailer avail. | 42 | $4,975 | $275 – $14,800 | |
| 8 | Catalina 42 | 42 | $83,900 | $39,900 – $156,500 | |
| 9 | Hunter 30 | 42 | $10,000 | $2,800 – $34,000 | |
| 10 | Catalina 320 | 41 | $59,500 | $26,000 – $90,000 |
The concentration at the top is striking. The most-listed boat in our dataset has 172 active listings — more than some entire regional markets for other boat types. These boats were built in the thousands and have loyal followings that keep the resale market liquid.
One of the more actionable findings in our data is the consistent price difference between boats listed with a trailer and those listed without. Across all models, boats listed with a trailer ask a median of $3,495 compared to $13,000 for boat-only listings — a difference of $9,505.
The caveat: trailer quality varies enormously. A 1988 galvanized trailer with rotted bunks is not the same asset as a 2019 aluminum roller trailer. When evaluating a package deal, it's worth researching what a comparable trailer alone would cost before deciding if the premium is justified.
Asking prices are not sale prices. The gap between what a seller asks and what a buyer pays is real — and in a buyer's market, it can be substantial. Anecdotally, sailors report negotiating 10–20% off asking price on boats that have sat for several months, particularly for older models with deferred maintenance.
Our data also doesn't capture:
That said, having a benchmark is genuinely useful. When you find a listing that asks 50% above the median for a given model, you know to look hard at what justifies the premium. When you find one well below, you know to look hard at what's wrong. The data gives you a frame of reference that most buyers don't have.
Every boat page on Keel Index now shows a live price estimate based on this data — including the range, median, and a deal rater that lets you enter an asking price and see how it compares to recent listings. The estimates are updated regularly as new listings come in, and outliers are automatically filtered to keep the numbers meaningful.
Browse a few examples to see the data in action:
Or search for any of the 697 sailboat models in our database to find specs, performance ratios, and price estimates for the boat you're researching.
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