Caliber sailboats for sale

Buying a used Caliber: an overbuilt hull from a production run that's now fixed

Caliber built every boat by hand and without bank financing, glassing bulkheads and furniture straight to a solid fiberglass hull instead of dropping in a molded liner — a slower, heavier approach to boatbuilding that traded speed for mass. That production run ended in 2010 and never resumed, so a used Caliber's supply is fixed: the McCrearys' family yard now operates only as Caliber Brokers, Inc., a brokerage for pre-owned boats, rather than a builder. Shopping one means weighing an individual hull's condition and documented repair history against that construction legacy, and recognizing that the brand was built for long-range, blue-water cruising rather than coastal daysailing.

Which era to target

Caliber's range splits into two eras built on the same underlying hull. The pre-LRC boats — the 28, 33, 35, 38, and standard 40 — were designed and built from 1981 through the early 1990s, before the company's Long Range Cruising (LRC) line existed. Starting in 1994, the LRC series — the 30 LRC, 35 LRC, 40 LRC, and 47 LRC — added expanded fuel and water tankage for extended passages, while the hull and interior construction underneath carried over largely unchanged from the earlier boats. That makes the era choice less about build quality, which stayed consistent across both, and more about how much tank capacity and range a buyer's cruising plans actually call for.

What to inspect across the range

Reviewers and owners have flagged a handful of recurring problems worth checking on any Caliber. Practical Sailor and Spinsheet both documented an early Caliber 33 bowsprit and anchor platform that wasn't husky enough and could crack or come apart under load in a heavy head sea — Caliber later corrected the design with heavier tubing, relieving slits, and a bolt-on nose piece in place of the original welded base, so it's worth confirming which version is fitted on an early boat. Practical Sailor also reported that two 33 owners had experienced the prop shaft working loose from the engine coupling, and separately noted the standard prop fitted to the 33 ran undersized. And because integral tankage is central to the Caliber platform, it's worth noting Spinsheet's warning on the 40: pumping out the holding tank with a powerful dockside system can, if the tank vent is clogged, generate enough vacuum to delaminate the tank ends or hull sides — a failure mode that, on an integral tank, can mean cutting into the cabin sole to repair.

Navigating the lineup

Pre-LRC Calibers run from the 28 up through the 38 and standard 40, sized for coastal and moderate offshore work; the LRC series adds a longer-legged range from the 30 LRC to the flagship 47 LRC, built around the tankage for extended passages. Buyers should settle on which category — and how much range — fits their plans first, then use the full model directory on this page to compare individual boats within that choice.