S2 sailboats for sale

Buying a used S2: a short, fixed production run split between two design lines

S2 built sailboats for a little over a decade before its parent company shifted entirely to power boats, so the used market is a closed, fixed set of hulls rather than an evolving product line — nothing new is coming. That range splits cleanly into two lineages: an in-house-designed cruising thread and a performance-oriented racer-cruiser thread brought in from outside naval architects starting in 1981, and the company's own catalog didn't always keep individual model names straight, even within a single line. A buyer's job here is less about vetting a trustworthy brand — S2 built a genuinely well-regarded hull — and more about confirming exactly which design era, and which specific model, a given listing represents.

Which era to target

The earliest S2 cruising boats, through the late 1970s, were designed in-house by Arthur Edmunds. From 1981 on, Chicago naval architects Scott Graham and Eric Schlageter took over the company's racing-oriented cruisers, starting with the 7.9 — a distinction worth knowing when choosing between an early, cruising-focused S2 and a later, more performance-tuned one. Within the 7.9's own run, S2 switched from polyester resin to a modified epoxy, AME 4000, around hull number 400, a change the company said made the boat stronger and less prone to blistering; by 1984 it had also begun backing hulls with a five-year anti-blister warranty. Exactly when S2's sailboat era ended is disputed: Practical Sailor describes a late-1989 attempt to revive 7.9 production for racers wanting newer boats that collapsed when dealers couldn't secure the ten guaranteed orders needed, while SpinSheet's account describes limited 7.9 production actually resuming in 1990, under arrangement with Tiara Yachts, and again in 1994. A very late-built 7.9 may or may not exist depending on which account is right, so its build date is worth confirming directly against the hull rather than assumed from the model year.

What to inspect across the range

Chainplates are a recurring complaint across S2 models of different sizes and eras: reviewers and owners describe them needing regular rebedding to stay watertight, with at least one reviewer calling the leakage around them "chronic." The balsa-cored decks and cabin tops used across the range are also worth checking closely at every hardware attachment point, particularly on boats that were raced hard over the years, since water intrusion there shows up as a recurring issue rather than an isolated one.

Navigating the lineup

The lineup runs from small, trailerable daysailers and racer-cruisers up through 30-foot-plus cruising boats, several offered in both aft- and center-cockpit versions on the same hull. One naming quirk worth knowing before shopping listings: S2 eventually marketed its well-established 9.2 under the name "S2 30," then years later reused that exact name for a separate, unrelated model from Graham & Schlageter — so don't assume two "S2 30" listings are the same boat. From there, the full model directory on this page breaks the lineup down by size and configuration.