Rethana sailboats for sale

Buying a used Rethana: evaluating the boat, not the badge

A used Rethana listing means one of two closely related German monohulls, the 25 or 27, from a builder that left almost no independent record behind: no first-party site, no magazine test, and a company history that survives only as a commercial-register entry for its own 2007 dissolution. That thinness cuts differently than brand risk on a still-supported marque — there's no factory, dealer network, or parts pipeline to lean on regardless of which model a buyer chooses, so the name itself carries little weight in the decision. What matters is the individual hull's own condition and maintenance history on a straightforward keel-and-centerboard cruiser, not a builder's reputation.

Which era to target

The two models don't overlap much in build years, which simplifies dating: the 25 comes from a single catalog year, about 1979, while the 27's run stretches from 1978 into 1986, nearly a decade longer. That longer span means more age variation among listings for the 27 than for the 25, though nothing in the record documents specific changes made across the 27's production run — treat build year as a general age marker rather than a guide to specific revisions.

What to inspect

The one documented issue is specific to the 27: its fuel capacity and water-tank range were originally very small, worth budgeting for if extended cruising rather than coastal use is the plan. Nothing comparable is documented for the 25.

Navigating the lineup

Size is the simplest way to sort between them: the 25 runs about 24.9 feet LOA against the 27's roughly 27.2 feet, a modest but real difference in interior volume and tankage. The full model directory on this page breaks out both by year and length for a closer look.