ETAP sailboats for sale

Buying a used Etap: a construction claim worth verifying, from a brand that changed hands twice

Shopping for a used Etap means weighing a genuinely distinctive hull against an interrupted ownership history. Etap Yachting, the original Belgian builder, went insolvent in January 2009 after its then-parent, Dehler, collapsed; a Belgian firm bought the name and molds two months later and restarted production from a different factory. That split matters more for Etap than for most brands, because the thing buyers are actually paying for — a double-skinned hull with foam injected between the layers to keep the boat afloat if holed — is a construction detail, not just a badge. Condition and construction history should be verified together: a surveyor who understands the double-skin format, not just a generic hull inspection, is worth seeking out specifically for this brand.

Which era to target

The great majority of Etaps on the used market were built at the original Malle, Belgium yard under Etap Yachting, spanning the small trailerable boats of the 1970s and 1980s through the larger 46 DS built up to 2009. A brief transitional period followed the January 2008 takeover by Dehler, under a new product strategy whose first result, the Etap 30CQ, was shown at the Hiswa boat show that September — a narrow window of rebranded boats built shortly before the 2009 insolvency. Anything built after that insolvency comes from an entirely different chain: new tooling and inventory moved to Szczecin, Poland under new ownership, with at least one model still being advertised as in production as late as 2021. Knowing which factory built a given hull, not just its model name, is the fastest way to understand what kind of support and parts history it carries.

What to inspect across the range

Two trade-offs of the double-hull construction show up repeatedly across reviews of different models, which makes them worth checking regardless of size. Yachting Monthly's reviewers flagged limited stowage on both the small Etap 20 and the larger Etap 30, describing it as typical "of these double-skinned yachts" generally, since part of the interior volume gives way to the foam-filled cavity between the skins. On the smaller lifting-keel models, the mechanism itself draws recurring comment: reviewer Steve Henkel warned that a knocking cast-iron keel against its casing on the 22i can signal the boat "may require major fixing," while testers of the 26 found raising its keel by hand takes roughly fifteen minutes of winch-grinding at the mast foot, and a separate review of the 23iL noted cabin space lost to the keel casing itself. On at least one larger model, engine and through-hull access were also noted as tight — a reminder that the same inner hull that provides flotation and insulation can complicate the access a surveyor needs.

Navigating the lineup

Etap's range breaks roughly into three bands: small trailerable, lifting-keel boats for coastal and daysailing use; midsize cruisers built for extended coastal work; and a handful of larger boats, including the 37s, 38i, 39s, and the 46 DS and 48 DS, aimed at passages and longer-term liveaboard use. The full model directory on this page sorts the lineup by size and year for closer comparison.