Nonsuch sailboats for sale

Buying a used Nonsuch: you're buying a rig philosophy, not a model

Every Nonsuch, from the smallest to the largest, is built around the same freestanding, wishbone-rigged mast carrying a single sail — no jib or genoa to trim, no standing rigging to inspect. Buying used means committing to that system rather than shopping between rig types the way a sloop buyer would; the real question for a survey isn't "how does this hull sail" so much as "how sound is this mast, its step, and the compression structure that carries its loads." Get comfortable with that trade, and size becomes the easier part of the decision.

Which era to target

The earliest 30s ran a Volvo saildrive; boats from around hull number 125 on switched to a shaft-and-diesel setup instead, a more conventional arrangement that's generally easier to source parts and service for today. Cabin layout is also generation-dependent: starting in 1983, buyers could order a roomier interior option with a forward double and a bigger aft saloon in place of the original arrangement, so two 30s of similar vintage may not share a floorplan — worth confirming rather than assuming. At the far end of the run sits the 324, a scarce carbon-rigged derivative of which only a handful were ever completed before the yard shut down; treat it as a specialist purchase rather than a mainstream used boat, and expect thinner parts and service support than a mainline model would carry.

What to inspect across the range

The one inspection point that applies across every model in the line, not just a single hull, is the rig itself. The wishbone system is sturdy, but it's unusual enough that riggers who genuinely understand and can service it are rare — a scarcity Good Old Boat's reviewers flagged directly. Before buying any Nonsuch, it's worth confirming that a qualified rigger has looked at the mast, its step, and the load path into the hull, and that ongoing service for that specific system is realistically available wherever the boat will be kept.

Navigating the lineup

Models run from the 22 up through the 36, all variations on the same catboat-and-wishbone concept rather than distinct designs, so the choice mostly comes down to length and interior layout rather than rig type. The 30 was by far the volume model of the whole run; the 324 sits at the opposite extreme, a scarce late-production variant for a buyer specifically seeking it out. The full model directory on this page breaks out each size for closer comparison.