Cavalier sailboats for sale

Buying a used Cavalier: one design lineage, three countries of construction

A used Cavalier comes from a single New Zealand-originated marque, Cavalier Yachts, founded by Peter K. Smith and John Salthouse - not a coincidence of shared naming across markets. The company's decade of growth, fielding eleven different designs at once by the late 1970s, was matched abroad by licensed production in Australia and Japan, a licensing arrangement rather than a branch office in either country - so a Cavalier built overseas carries the same design lineage as one built at home, just a different builder's hands behind it. That lineage carries genuine racing pedigree: the Cavalier 30 was designed for the Half Ton class under the International Offshore Rule by a naval architect whose designs dominated offshore racing through the mid-1970s, a pedigree worth weighing against the condition of any individual hull under consideration.

Which era to target

The clearest line to draw is 1979, when a sudden 20 percent sales tax surcharge imposed by New Zealand prime minister Rob Muldoon priced Cavalier out of international markets and precipitated the company's collapse; a receiver traded the business out and repaid its debts, but the original company's momentum ended there. A hull built before that point came from Cavalier Yachts at full strength, whether finished in New Zealand or under its Australian or Japanese license. Cavalier-branded construction didn't stop entirely afterward - a 1983 Cavalier 39, designed by Bob Salthouse, was built by Export Yachts New Zealand - so a buyer should treat a hull from this later window as coming from a different builder of record, even though it carries the same model name on the transom.

Navigating the lineup

The surviving range reflects the breadth the company built toward at its peak, from smaller club racers up through offshore-capable cruisers in the high 30s and 40s. Choosing among them comes down to size and intended use more than era, since the same design lineage runs through the whole range regardless of which country's yard finished a given hull. The full model directory on this page breaks out each size.