Martin sailboats for sale

Buying a used Martin: know which Martin you're looking at first

A used "Martin" listing hides two completely different boats behind one name. It might be a Martin Yachts Ltd. one-design out of British Columbia -- the 16, 242, or 243, all drawn by designer Don Martin -- or it might be a boat designed by naval architect Rodger Martin and built by a company with no connection to Martin Yachts at all: Ryder Boats' Presto 30, or Holby Marine Co.'s Quest 30, 33, and 40. That distinction matters before condition or price ever enters the conversation, because it changes which builder's manufacturing history, construction methods, and reputation actually apply to the boat in front of you.

Which era to target

If it's a Martin 16, the manufacturing era matters more than the model year: boats built directly by Martin Yachts Ltd. between 1995 and 2001 predate a long chain of subsequent producers -- Abbott Boats Ltd. from 2003 until a 2006 fire destroyed its moulds, then Platinum Yachts Ltd. and Campion Boats from 2009, and finally KAPE Boatworks Inc. from early 2013 on, building the boat with a Québec partner. The newest, KAPE-built hulls came out of that changeover noticeably upgraded over what came before, so knowing which producer built a given 16 tells you more than its age alone. A Martin 242 or 243, by contrast, changed little across its run -- the 242 was conceived from its 1980 prototype as a strict one-design with fixed class rules, so era mostly affects cosmetic condition rather than design generation.

On the Rodger Martin side, the Quest line is genuinely generational: the Quest 30 came first, the 33 reworked it into a bigger, more race-capable boat, and the Quest 40 arrived in 2002 as a larger "big sister" again. Treat the three as related steps rather than interchangeable sizes. The Presto 30 has no such lineage to sort out -- it was a single 2009 design, a shallow-draft cat-ketch commissioned by Ryder Boats after interest in Rodger Martin Design's earlier Hurricane Island 30 for Outward Bound.

What to inspect across the range

On a Martin 16, focus on two recurring, publication-documented issues: Practical Sailor notes the boat's PAU units can be hard to repair without electronics expertise, and that running rigging typically lasts only around five years in strong sun before needing replacement -- both worth checking regardless of which era built the boat. Parts fit can also differ between boatyards and eras, so confirm that hardware on an older hull matches what's actually available before assuming a straightforward repair. On a Martin 242, Sailing World has reported owners finding rot in the balsa-cored deck along the foredeck and gunwales -- a core-moisture check is worth doing on any 242 regardless of age.

Navigating the lineup

If you've confirmed it's a British Columbia-built Martin, the choice is largely between the 16's small, mission-built accessible-sailing keelboat and the 242 or 243's strict one-design and lifting-keel cruising options from the same designer. If it's a Presto 30 or a Quest 30, 33, or 40, you're evaluating a Rodger Martin design built by Ryder Boats or Holby Marine on their own terms, sized from a 30-foot cat-ketch cruiser up to the 40-foot Quest. The full model directory on this page breaks each one out by size and year once you know which Martin you're shopping.