North Wind sailboats for sale

Buying a used North Wind: several different boats under one name

A used North Wind is really several different boats wearing one badge: a 1980s long-keel cruiser, a fiberglass deck-saloon line built through the early 2000s, and at least one aluminium performance yacht, all built at a semicustom Barcelona yard rather than on a high-volume production line. That variety means the North Wind name alone says less about a given boat than its specific model, era, and construction do - buyers should weigh each hull against its own generation rather than assume consistency across the range.

Which era to target

Construction and keel design moved together as the lineup evolved, and knowing where a given boat falls matters for how it will sail and what it will need. Boats from the 435's era, the early 1980s, carry a long keel under a fiberglass hull - the choice for buyers wanting a traditional passagemaking motion and a documented design pedigree. By the late 1980s the range had shifted to a fin keel with a partial skeg-hung rudder. The newest construction sits in the early-2000s deck-saloon boats: a hand-laid, cored fiberglass build using Klegecell foam and vinylester resin rather than resin infusion, an epoxy barrier against osmosis, deck hardware through-bolted onto heavy stainless backing plates, and a mechanically fastened, glassed hull-to-deck joint. A buyer comparing two North Winds should work out which of these builds is actually in front of them before comparing anything else.

Navigating the lineup

The lineup runs from smaller early cruisers up to the 68-foot flagship of the deck-saloon line, with size, keel type, and designer all changing across that span rather than following one consistent formula. The clearest first decision is old long-keel character versus the newer semicustom deck-saloon layout; length and specific model come after that. The full model directory on this page breaks down individual boats within whichever era and size fits how you plan to sail.