Buying a used Contest: one family's standard, not a rotating cast of owners
Shopping a used Contest means shopping one continuous family operation rather than guessing which corporate owner built a given hull. The yard has stayed with the Conijn family since it was founded in 1959, passing from founder to son to grandson without a sale or a merger along the way. That continuity narrows one kind of risk buyers face with other brands, but it doesn't remove the ordinary ones: a certified, well-designed hull is still only as good as the systems, deck, and refit history layered onto it since it left the yard.
Which era to target
The clearest dividing line sits at the start of Lloyd's Register certification, which became standard for every new Contest once the founder's son took over the yard in 1970; boats built before that point won't carry the same documentation baseline as everything after. A second, more recent shift runs through construction method and design partner together: the numbered classics of the 1960s through 1990s were solid fiberglass boats designed across a changing cast of naval architects, while the later CS-series line moved to a vacuum-infused, cored build and, for interiors, a dedicated partnership with Wetzels Brown that began with the 2012-model 72CS. Buyers who want the current infusion-built construction and a semi-custom interior process should look to the CS-series boats; buyers comfortable with an older solid-laminate hull and a simpler build era have a deeper, older pool of numbered models to choose from.
Navigating the lineup
Size and construction era track together across the range: the numbered classics run smaller, generally under 40 feet, out of the yard's first three decades, while the CS-series boats span roughly 42 to 85 feet and represent the current semi-custom, judel/vrolijk & co-designed line. Buyers set on a size band or a construction era can use that split to narrow the field before comparing individual boats on the full model directory on this page.
Where they're listed
Contest listings appear across 18 countries. Netherlands has the most listings with 58 (30.4%), followed by Spain and United States.
Country view
191 listings · 18 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | $34,230 | 58 | 10 | 30.4% |
| Spain | $206,303 | 21 | 4 | 11.0% |
| United States | $79,000 | 21 | 7 | 11.0% |
| Italy | $645,417 | 18 | 2 | 9.4% |
| United Kingdom | $22,735 | 15 | 4 | 7.9% |
| Greece | $65,694 | 15 | 0 | 7.9% |
| Germany | $68,518 | 12 | 1 | 6.3% |
| Belgium | $20,169 | 6 | 1 | 3.1% |
| France | $43,165 | 6 | 0 | 3.1% |
| British Virgin Islands | $59,500 | 5 | 0 | 2.6% |
| Grenada | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 1.6% |
| Malta | $44,372 | 3 | 1 | 1.6% |
| 6 other countries | — | 8 | 2 | 4.2% |
All Contest models
24 models grouped by length overall. Open any model to see recent asking prices and active listings.