Average Cost of Buying & Owning a Sailboat (2022)

Written by Shawn Buckles in How Much Sailboats Cost On Average (380+ Prices Compared)

Here are the 2022 data for our research on the average cost of buying and owning a sailboat.

boat price class one-time cost monthly cost
Island Packet 26' medium $25,000 $470
Catalina 22' low budget $2,500 $115
Ocean cruiser 35' low budget $38,000 $450
Luxury yacht 40' expensive $166,000 $1,300

What Does it Cost to Buy a Sailboat?

The average price of a new sailboat per foot in USD:

  • under 30 ft: $2,400 per ft
  • 30 - 50 ft: $5,700 - $8,500 per ft
  • over 50 ft: $11,900 - $65,400 per ft

On average, second-hand sailboats go at 1/3 - 1/4 of the cost of a new boat:

  • under 30 ft: $815 per ft
  • 30 - 50 ft: $3,020 per ft
  • over 50 ft: $5,100 - $17,000 per ft

Price of new sailboats

I've looked at the prices of thousands of yachts (really) on one of the largest yacht marketplaces in the world (- not manually, don't worry: with the help of their search function). This is what I came up with:

Length Range Low Average High
15-19ft $22,000 $24,000 $27,000
20-24ft $41,000 $50,000 $71,000
25-29ft $71,000 $96,000 $133,000
30-34ft $155,000 $183,000 $260,000
35-39ft $191,000 $251,000 $420,000
40-44ft $245,000 $326,000 $522,000
45-49ft $348,000 $400,000 $526,000
50-60ft $563,000 $654,000 $902,000
80-100ft $5,677,000 $5,889,000 $6,518,000

Source: Yachtworld Q2 2022

The price of new sailboats ranges from roughly $1,412 - $65,433 per foot. I've used these numbers to calculate the following list:

Prices per foot in USD

Here's the detailed price per foot for all lengths from 20 to 100 feet:

Length Range Per Foot
15-19ft $1,412
20-24ft $2,273
25-29ft $3,556
30-34ft $5,719
35-39ft $6,784
40-44ft $7,762
45-49ft $8,511
50-60ft $11,891
80-100ft $65,433

Price of used sailboats

We did the same for used catamarans, comparing thousands of listings. Here are the complete data:

Length Range Low Average High
15-19ft $5,000 $8,000 $19,000
20-24ft $6,000 $19,000 $59,000
25-29ft $7,000 $30,000 $96,000
30-34ft $9,000 $66,000 $228,000
35-39ft $14,000 $111,000 $392,000
40-44ft $22,000 $150,000 $512,000
45-49ft $36,000 $162,000 $518,000
50-60ft $60,000 $281,000 $897,000
80-100ft $433,000 $1,534,000 $4,720,000

Source: Yachtworld Q2 2022

Prices per foot in USD

Here's the detailed price per foot for all lengths from 20 to 100 feet:

Length Range Per Foot
15-19ft $471
20-24ft $864
25-29ft $1,111
30-34ft $2,063
35-39ft $3,000
40-44ft $3,571
45-49ft $3,447
50-60ft $5,109
80-100ft $17,044

The price of used sailboats ranges from roughly $471-$17,044 per foot.

Prices on Craigslist

To get an average of the price of a used sailboat, I went over to Craigslist. I took the first 10 relevant search results for sailboats under, and over 30 feet.

Of course, the averages here are very speculative, as prices vary from day to day. But it gives a broad range of what to expect.

Over 50 feet, listings become meagre. I believe people tend to not place their 80-ft sailboats on Craigslist, but sell it through a broker instead.

Median Craigslist price of a used sailboat:

  • under 30 ft: $7,900
  • over 30 ft: $96,900

Average Craigslist price-per-foot of a used sailboat:

  • under 30 ft: $354 per ft
  • over 30 ft: $1,845 per ft

This is what I found on Craigslist under 30 feet:

Washington DC
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Columbia MK II 1975 26 $6,500
Newport 1979 17 $5,000
Catalina 1983 22 $4,950
Macgregor Venture 1977 22 $1,800

Source: Craigslist Washington DC Q2 2022

Los Angeles
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Catalina 1998 25 $18,500
Catalina 1974 27 $13,999
Pacific Seacraft 25 1976 28 $11,500
Newport 1979 28 $10,500

Source: Craigslist Los Angeles Q2 2022

Houston
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Catalina 1983 25 $7,900
Catalina 1985 22 $5,000
O'Day 1977 22 $3,800
Vagabond 1981 17 $3,750

Source: Craigslist Houston Q2 2022

South Florida
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
MacGregor 26X 2001 26 $13,999
Cape Dory 1979 25 $8,500
Precision 1990 23 $7,500
Dusky 1998 17 $7,000

Source: Craigslist Miami Q2 2022

New York
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
C&C 1985 27 $12,000
O'Day 1987 27 $11,500
Impulse 1987 21 $8,500
Catalina Capri 1986 22 $7,900

Source: Craigslist New York Q2 2022

Here's what I found for 30 feet and up:

Washington DC
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
MeadowLark 1970 37 $43,000
Pearson 323 1983 33 $18,000
O'Day 1988 17 $3,300

Source: Craigslist Washington DC Q2 2022

Los Angeles
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Cheoy Lee 1984 48 $112,000
Hunter Legend 1996 43 $109,900
Vagabond Ketch 1984 47 $102,000
Marine Technologies Ketch 1979 48 $99,500

Source: Craigslist Los Angeles Q2 2022

Houston
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Trintella 1982 42 $105,000
Hunter 2001 46 $96,900
Hunter 1997 34 $59,000
Mason 1983 43 $49,999

Source: Craigslist Houston Q2 2022

South Florida
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Hunter 2005 38 $104,900
Endeavour 1989 51 $99,000
Beneteau 1998 40 $99,000
Hunter 2004 36 $94,500

Source: Craigslist Miami Q2 2022

New York
Boat Year Length (ft) Price (USD)
Catalina Mark 2 1998 42 $97,900
X-119 1992 40 $84,000
Cape Dory 32#7 1986 33 $38,000
Irwin Citation 1984 31 $35,000

Source: Craigslist New York Q2 2022


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