Bandholm sailboats for sale

Buying a used Bandholm: one designer, three different builders

A used Bandholm isn't the product of a single factory - it's designer Knud Olsen's hand carried across three separate arrangements over three decades: his own small yard in Bandholm harbour, hull casting done elsewhere at Erria-boat because Bandholm itself had no casting facilities, and, later, Mariboat. That history matters to a buyer because construction and finish quality shifted with each arrangement, and because at least one reviewer flagged that some hulls were sold to be home-completed, meaning quality can vary boat to boat within the same model, independent of age or condition. Knowing which era and which builder produced a given hull is worth more here than the model number alone.

Which era to target

The clearest split runs along deck construction. The early Bandholm 20, 24, 26, and 30 have fibreglass hulls but the 1963 Bandholm 26 carries a wood deck and coachroof - Olsen's own preference, for the feel it gave the boat - while the 24 was the first Bandholm with a fibreglass deck as well as hull. The 1977 Bandholm 27 broke fully with that approach: hull and deck both in fibreglass, with a shorter, more modern keel. A wood-decked 26 asks for real deck and coachroof maintenance in exchange for Olsen's original construction; an all-glass 27 trades that upkeep for a more modern, lower-maintenance boat. One review of the 27 also notes it isn't especially quick in light air but is stable and secure once the wind builds, with a ballast ratio close to fifty percent - worth weighing against how and where a given boat will actually be sailed.

What to inspect across the range

At least three models in the lineup - the 24, the 27, and the 35 - have been sold as boats buyers could complete themselves rather than as finished factory products, so fit-out and equipment quality can differ meaningfully between two boats of the same model and year; a careful survey of joinery and systems, not just the hull, is worth the time regardless of which era a boat comes from. On the wood-decked early boats, deck and coachroof condition deserves particular scrutiny, since that construction choice was unique to Olsen's own preference rather than a cost shortcut common across Danish yards of the era.

Navigating the lineup

The early line - 20, 24, 26, and 30 - traces to Olsen's own Bandholm Boats yard, with hulls cast at Erria-boat in Ærøskøbing. The later line - 27, 28, 33, and 35 - came from Mariboat, first in Maribo and then, after the company's reconstruction, from Sakskøbing; the 35 was also the one model Olsen co-designed, with Mogens Lorentzen. Buyers weighing size and era against each other will find every model broken out by length and year in the full model directory on this page.