What is the best boat available today for $100,000?

We divided our analysis into three distinct sections, Cruisers, Cruiser / Racers, and Racers, reflecting the complex choices at this price.

This amount of money is a serious investment for most Americans. It represents a dividing line between new boats – none of which will be found below this number (excluding dinghies and some boats under 30 feet) – and a selection of older (sometime much older) boats with varying degrees of tradeoffs between quality, age and price. Choose any two.

Before we get into the winners, a word of caution. At this price range, you must consider a balanced budget – and not in the Congressional sense. Remember, there are many other expenses which hit promptly when you buy a boat (even excluding any commission, usually paid by the seller). Among these are a boat survey (get one), repair / upgrades, transportation (if any), slip fees, insurance, and other expenses that will take $10k easily – and probably more – within a few months of purchase to keep the boat on the water.

Bottom line: make sure you’re budgeting more than the initial purchase price, and don’t forget to keep the NASailor rule of thumb for annual expenses – roughly 10% to 15% of a boat’s new price per year in expenses (includes all expenses, but not major upgrades).

That said, there are some fantastic deals to be had in this range, for both the cruiser and the racer. We pull out a couple of our favorites below.

Best Full-Bodied Cruiser
Runner-up:
1987 Gulfstar 50: A 1987 50-footer for $100,000? Amazing, but true. To be fair, Gulfstar is not the most well respected of nameplates. And you could easily spend the purchase price in upgrades and maintenance in the first couple years.

But for light coastal cruising, or even a bit further afield, it is hard to argue with waterline length and displacement. This one wins on both counts. With a major refit 10 years ago, a lot of the running rigging and other systems and gear will be in need of replacement soon. Nevertheless, there is no denying the space and solidity of big boats. Keep an expense budget ready – everything on a boat of this size is more pricey.

Runner-up:
1984 Sabre 38 Mk 1: Truly a classic, these boats have a traditional design with overhands forward and aft, and a moderate hull form under the water.

With 6′ 3″ headroom throughout, and three distinct cabins, they are available in Mk1 and Mk2 versions. The main difference is the year they were manufactured, and a slightly different configuration of the aft cabin / quarterberth. On the Mk1, the quarterberth is combined with the forward-facing navigation station, while the Mk2 features a separate aft cabin with closing door. The Mk2 is also about 1000 lbs heavier.

Whichever version you choose, they are widely considered great sailors. These are affordable, yet still classic boats built with an attention to detail and crafted Maine-style wood interiors that you rarely see in modern boats.

Winner:
42′ 1973 Whitby Center Cockpit One of the classic offshore boats of all time, the Whitby 42 was an early center-cockpit boat. Designed by Ted Brewer, and built in Ontario, it offers room for a family or two couples with a large v-berth, and private aft cabin.

Two heads, and reasonable sailing characteristics – although it requires 10 to 20 knots of wind to really get going – round out this inexpensive world cruiser. The draft of just 5 feet allows access to most harbors. The beam of 13 feet gives the Whitby 42 a bit of space inside to make relaxing at anchor easy.

The ketch rig reduces the size of the sailplan, and, while less efficient, creates options for reefing.

This example appears to be a good one, with a small heater in the corner and wood-work that appears to be in good shape. Lots of time in the shorter seasons of the north do pay off.

Best Cruiser / Racer

Runner-up:
36′ 1938 Alden Yawl An all-wood, Alden-designed yawl? What’s not to like?

It isn’t practical, and probably has massive problems with the wood hull and other issues. This is a single-owner boat, newly restored, with a classic look that is sure to attract attention. You could buy this boat, and just spend all your time working on it, staring at it lovingly. Spectacular.

Runner-up:
36′ 1999 Catalina 36 At the opposite extreme from the Alden Yawl, this 1999 Catalina is a wing-keel design, with enough room on board for parents and kids on a summer cruise. Catalinas are known as reasonably good sailing boats, although I’m sure this one would do better with a fin keel. As they say in the listing: “Minerva” has everything you need to enjoy the [Chesapeake] Bay this season including a 16000 BTU air conditioner.” I think that’s about right.

Winner:
28′ 2006 Alerion Express – The newest boat on the list, this Schumacher design day-sailing/weekending classic from Pearson Marine Group is a beautiful boat, and deserving of our vote as best Cruiser, so long as you understand its limitations. This example has a beautiful dark blue Awl Grip hull (newly painted this winter) with white boot and red bottom. Used very lightly for day saling on Narragansett Bay, she is well equipped with roller furling on the optional Hoyt jib boom which also has the light air boom extender.

This is a boat which can achieve 90% of what most of us crave on the water: having a cocktail with friends, racing with some buddies, and spending a few days onboard over a long weekend. While this boat isn’t going to encourage family and friends to spend three weeks aboard, it will get you to the next harbor in style and comfort.

Best Racer

Runner-up:
2002 Beneteau 36.7: I was astounded to find an example or two of the now nearly classic Beneteau 36.7. Now, I’m generally not the biggest fan of a lot of the older Beneteau cruising boats, but the First series generally – and the 36.7 specifically – are well respected and have a solid one-design community. In many ways, these are the ideal multi-use boat. With a wide stern, well-designed cockpit and racy rig, they can be fun to sail. Yet they’ve got a nice teak interior with a single head forward and three staterooms for the owners and another couple, or some kids.

At a New England PHRF of around 78, they make a good compromise boat either as a one-design racer or on longer point-to-point races. Even if you end up racing PHRF, you’ll have a lot of company in the 34- to 38-foot range. The only down side which I see is the symmetrical spinnaker, which requires a bit more crew, and any concerns around the long-term build quality.

This 2002 example has new electronics, new class racing sails, a faired bottom, and looks to be in pretty good shape. Particularly for the asking price at $99,000.

Runner-Up:
39′ 1996 Schumacher Custom 39: Custom boats are always a risk, but this one I thought was worth a mention. From the listing:

One of Carl Schumacher’s finest designs, this boat was originally designed as an IMS offshore design for well-known San Francisco sailor Colin Case. The boat was designed to be good around the buoys with a real emphasis on offshore racing. The boat was built by one of New Zealand’s top custom race boat builders, Ian Franklin in Christchurch, New Zealand. Going through the boat on a recent inspection shows the attention to detail the builder put in the build. This is one well-done package that is as strong today as the day she was launched.

The boat just recently had a total rig transformation to a swept back spreader rig elegantly engineered by Hansen Rigging with the elimination of the runners as well, which makes the boat a potent weapon in IRC with masthead spinnakers and non overlapping jibs.

Offshore results speak for themselves, going to Hawaii with a class win and two class 2nd’s, the boat has shown great consistency.

Custom boats offer both a great opportunity to get a good price on a boat with top-end gear, and the risk which goes along with a boat that few have sailed. In this case, for a stripped-down raceboat, it’s hard to beat the price.

Winner:
34′ 2002 J Boats J/105 #A classic one-design racer, overnight cruiser and daysailer, the J-105 is seen almost everywhere, and one-design fleets abound. With no standing headroom and only a small head, this is a boat with few illusions of long offshore passages – unless you’re double-handing. Still, for the out-and-out racer who still wants to go out with family for an afternoon cruise, this remains a good choice. And with large, well-established fleets, the boat is the best possible choice for one-design racers.

Some will argue they’re too slow. Some will argue the asymmetrical spinnaker is slow for windward – leeward races, or that they need too much breeze to get up on a plane. But the reality is this boat has inherited the gauntlet from the J/24 and J/35 sailors, and introduced a whole new generation of sailors to the joys of the water.

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