Cabo Rico sailboats for sale

Buying a used Cabo Rico: a small-yard hull worth more scrutiny than the badge

A used Cabo Rico is a bet on a small Costa Rican yard's hand-built construction more than on a single famous design -- the company passed through a hobbyist's workshop, a Canadian ownership change, and a brokerage acquisition that brought in an entirely separate model line, all while building full-keel cutters meant for offshore passages rather than coastal sailing. Much of the range was built on a semi-custom basis, with owner input shaping individual boats, so documented build details and condition on a specific hull matter more than the model name on the transom.

Which era to target

The Cabo Rico 38, the yard's longest-running model, split into two construction generations worth knowing before you shop. Earlier hulls used polyester resin and iron ballast; production shifted to lead ballast for roughly the last 60 boats of the run, and later hulls added vinylester resin in the outer laminate layers to help guard against blistering. Later 38s also gained an access panel that eased what had been difficult engine maintenance on earlier boats. Beyond the 38, the range moves into Chuck Paine's larger, Corecell- and Airex-cored designs -- the 40/42, its 42PH pilothouse sibling, and the 56 flagship -- which trade the 38's balsa coring and classic full-keel profile for a more contemporary systems package and semi-custom builds where, as one review of the 42PH put it, no two boats are exactly alike.

What to inspect across the range

A few documented issues cluster around the Cabo Rico 38's earlier production years and are worth a survey's attention: owners of pre-1990 boats have reported hull blisters, and rudder posts, bow railings, and chainplates weakened by poor-quality stainless steel the yard was supplied in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Teak decks, a hallmark of these boats, can develop leaks that lead to deck delamination over time, and early cockpit soles built with a plywood layer under the teak have been prone to rot if that water infiltration goes unaddressed. Later hulls addressed some of these points directly -- vinylester resin, lead ballast, and improved engine access among them -- so a Cabo Rico 38's specific production year is worth confirming before you weigh it against another.

Navigating the lineup

Two distinct design lineages sit inside the Cabo Rico name: Bill Crealock's full-keel cutters and pilothouses -- the 38, 34, and 45 -- built to the cutaway-forefoot profile Practical Sailor found consistent across the marque, and Chuck Paine's larger 40/42, 42PH, and 56 designs. A third line entirely, the Cambria 40, 44/46, 48, and 52, came along with the 1992 purchase of David Walters Custom Yachts and was conceived as its own competitor to Nautor Swan and Baltic rather than as a Cabo Rico design. The full model directory on this page is the place to compare specific years and hull numbers within whichever of those lines fits your plans.