Ranger sailboats for sale

Buying a used Ranger: one designer's hand across three different owners

Every Ranger traces back to the same source: an exclusive 1967 arrangement between builder Jack Jensen and naval architect Gary Mull that put Mull's designs, and largely only Mull's designs, on the Ranger name for most of the brand's run. What changed around that constant was ownership — Ranger Marine gave way to Bangor Punta by the early 1970s, then to Lear Siegler by the mid-1980s, with production shifting hands and coasts along the way before the line ended in 1987. A used Ranger's condition still governs the purchase more than any of that history, but knowing which era built a given hull is a useful starting point before a survey even begins.

Which era to target

The earliest Rangers — the 26 (1968) and 33 (1969) that opened the line — came out of Jensen and Mull's original exclusive arrangement, before Bangor Punta's early-1970s acquisition strained it. Mull's exclusive hold on the brand didn't survive that ownership change, but his pencil kept working for Ranger regardless, drawing IOR- and MORC-class racers like the 28 and 22 well into the mid-to-late 1970s — so a later build year doesn't by itself mean a lesser design pedigree. By 1981, Bangor Punta had wound the division down entirely, a casualty of the parent company's broader restructuring that sources describe differently in its particulars; a small tail of additional Rangers came later still, built alongside Cal and O'Day in Fall River, Massachusetts, after Lear Siegler took over the lines in 1983, before all three shut down by 1987. Anything wearing the factory-red hull and Gary Mull racing package of the limited 92-boat Ranger Specials program is a different kind of find from an everyday cruising hull, and worth recognizing as such on sight.

What to inspect across the range

Practical Sailor's reviews of the 33 and 23 turn up overlapping trouble spots worth checking regardless of model: both reviews flag hull-to-deck joint leaks, and both note chainplate-related leaks that owners have had to address by rebedding. Mast support is another recurring theme — 33 owners have had to reinforce the compression post below the cabin sole, while on the 23, Gary Mull himself pointed to the mast step's bedding compound drying and cracking with age, letting water reach the deck core through the bolt hole. The 33 also carries a few model-specific quirks worth a look on survey: a tendency to develop weather helm quickly as she heels, rudder bushings some owners have had to replace, and a main boom that owners say isn't strong enough for heavy vang tension.

Navigating the lineup

Ranger's range runs from small one-designs like the 20 and 22 up through larger offshore-capable racer-cruisers like the 32, 33, and 37, with the 23 and 28 filling the middle as IOR-rule class racers. Buyers chasing the brand's racing pedigree most directly should look toward the Half Ton-class 28 or a genuine Ranger Special; buyers wanting more room to cruise should look toward the 33 or 37 instead, using the full model directory on this page to compare specific years and configurations once a size and era are settled.