Alerion sailboats for sale

Buying a used Alerion: know which builder stands behind your hull

Alerion's daysailer profile has stayed recognizable since the 1980s, but the company behind it has not. Molds and production passed from Holby Marine to Tillotson-Pearson, then to US Watercraft, and then to Alerion Yachts under Peter Eastman, with builder Randy Borges continuing construction under that ownership. For a used buyer, that succession matters more than it would on a single-builder brand — two boats with a similar hull profile can come from different construction philosophies and different eras of quality control. Condition and documented provenance carry more weight here than on a brand that never changed hands.

Which era to target

The clearest split is between the original Tillotson-Pearson-built Express line and the later US Watercraft-built Sport line. TPI's approach favored a labor-intensive, hand-finished cored composite build with carbon-fiber running gear below decks — the work of a long-established production builder refining a design over years. The Sport 30, developed with Langan Design Partners roughly a generation later, came out of US Watercraft's newer infusion-based process, a more industrial technique aimed at consistent, lighter structures. Buyers looking at the Herreshoff-branded Alerion 26 are considering a third builder entirely, Carroll Marine, working under contract to Herreshoff Designs. None of these approaches is inherently better — they're different builders solving the same brief at different times — but knowing which one built a given hull should shape how a surveyor reads it. Boats built since Eastman's 2020 acquisition carry the most continuity: a build team that, at the time, already had 15 to 20 years of Alerion-specific experience, continuing with Randy Borges as builder.

What to inspect across the range

On Tillotson-Pearson-era Express boats, Practical Sailor testers flagged several ergonomic details worth checking in person: a cockpit barney post that can obstruct tacking, a mainsail that proved difficult to raise and lower despite load-bearing batten slides, a cockpit that runs a little wide forward for shorter sailors when heeled, and rear cockpit drains that can admit water to leeward and may need to be fastened shut in a seaway. On the US Watercraft-era Sport 30, reviewers for Cruising World and naval architect Robert H. Perry both raised smaller ergonomic points — a jib-sheet lead the tester found awkward to control from the wheel, a boom height Boat of the Year judges felt could sit a couple of inches higher for a taller helmsman, and a bowsprit profile worth a close look for fairness. None of these are structural red flags, but they're the kind of details a sea trial should confirm rather than assume from a listing photo.

Navigating the lineup

Buyers set on the traditional Herreshoff look should start with the Express series or the Alerion 26; those wanting a racier, more contemporary day sailor should look to the Sport line; and buyers wanting more length can look toward the larger models in the range. The full model directory on this page breaks the lineup down by size and era for closer comparison.