Average Cost of Buying & Owning a Sailboat (2022)

Examples of Popular Sailboats, and How Much They Cost

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