Gozzard sailboats for sale

Buying a used Gozzard: a small-batch boat from a family workshop

A used Gozzard isn't a mass-production boat that happens to be old - it's a semi-custom one, still built by hand at a pace Michael Gozzard has put at about nine months a boat. That slower, hands-on pace generally means more consistent build quality than a high-volume yard, but it also means a smaller used-boat pool to draw from rather than a market flooded with identical hulls, so condition and specific era matter more than the badge alone. Judging any individual Gozzard on those terms, rather than assuming the brand alone guarantees quality, is the right place to start.

Which era to target

Keel geometry is the clearest fault line in the range: boats built before 1980 are traditional full-keelers, while nearly everything since carries the modified fin keel and skeg-hung rudder the yard developed around naval architect Ted Brewer's "Brewer Bit." Buyers who want the classic full-keel motion and directional stability should look toward the earliest hulls; those chasing better pointing and a lighter helm are better served by the later keel. A second, narrower choice sits inside the flagship 44 alone: the Mk1, launched in 1993 with a noticeably shallower draft, versus the Mk2 introduced in 2001 with several more inches of draft, a taller rig, and a lighter, more composite-heavy build - worth knowing before ruling either generation in or out for a given cruising ground.

What to inspect across the range

Exterior teak is the recurring maintenance line item to budget for regardless of model: Sailing Magazine's Used Boat Notebook found Gozzard 36 owners struggle to keep up with varnishing the boat's abundant teak, and separate coverage of the 41 likewise flags extensive exterior teak as something to check for thinning wood or failing caulk lines before buying, since remediation is costly. Because coring materials differ by hull rather than following one yard-wide standard, a moisture check on cored decks and topsides is worth running on any Gozzard rather than assuming a given boat matches another model's construction.

Navigating the lineup

The range runs narrow but distinct: the rare 31, of which only 20 were ever built, sits at one end, and the 44 - offered in both Mk1 and Mk2 form - anchors the other as the yard's bluewater flagship. The full model directory on this page breaks down the rest of the lineup so you can compare specific boats within whichever size and era fits how you plan to sail.