Buying a used Roberts: you're buying the builder, not a factory
A boat listed as a "Roberts" was built from stock plans and kits, not on a production line, so the individual builder's skill matters as much as the design itself. Most examples reached the water through amateur owner-builders working from purchased plans, study packages, and full-size frame patterns, or through small independent yards finishing a bare hull and deck to their own standard. That means two boats carrying the same model name can differ enormously in fit, finish, and structural quality even when the underlying design is identical -- condition and workmanship tell you far more about a given Roberts than the model name does.
Which era to target
Most listings badged "Roberts" trace to the Roberts 25, a trailerable cruising design Bruce Roberts-Goodson drew in 1974; the earliest documented buyer reports purchasing his plans the following year, in 1975. It could be ordered in moulded plywood/wood epoxy or in fiberglass, built single-skin or foam-sandwich, with a choice of shoal-draft or regular-keel underbody included in the same study-plan package -- so confirming which construction option a given boat actually used matters more than pinning down an exact model year.
What to inspect across the range
Because these boats were finished by their owners or by small yards rather than a single factory, a survey needs to weigh the builder as much as the design. The design office's own catalog sold the same hull family buildable in wood epoxy, fiberglass (single-skin or foam-sandwich), steel, or aluminum, and Marine Park -- the Brisbane-area operation that supplied bare hull-and-deck kits for models like the Adventurer 25 and Spray 22 -- is a documented example of the kit-and-finish pattern that put unfinished hulls into buyers' hands across the wider catalog. Ask for a clear account of who built the hull and who finished it, and weigh that history as seriously as the survey itself.
Navigating the lineup
Within that range, the Roberts 25 carries the deepest documented history, making it the natural starting point for a buyer new to the name. The lineup also includes a 1976 South Coast 25; beyond that, the full model directory on this page is the better tool for comparing what's actually listed.
Where they're listed
Roberts listings appear across 6 countries. Australia has the most listings with 55 (84.6%), followed by United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Country view
65 listings · 6 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | $38,845 | 55 | 19 | 84.6% |
| United Kingdom | $91,217 | 4 | 0 | 6.2% |
| New Zealand | $48,151 | 3 | 2 | 4.6% |
| Germany | $13,392 | 1 | 1 | 1.5% |
| Netherlands | $6,405 | 1 | 0 | 1.5% |
| United States | $9,995 | 1 | 0 | 1.5% |
All Roberts models
1 model grouped by length overall. Open any model to see recent asking prices and active listings.