ShearWater sailboats for sale

Buying a used Shearwater: identify which boat before judging its condition

A used-Shearwater listing could describe any of three unrelated boats. The Shearwater III is a 16.5-foot racing catamaran from the Prout family's Canvey Island yard, built from the mid-1950s under a restricted class that has let the design keep evolving. The Shearwater 28 is a small, shoal-draft Bolger-designed cat-yawl that Edey & Duff of Massachusetts built only 11 times, between 1985 and 1997. The Shearwater 39 and 45 are heavier South African offshore cruisers, designed by Dudley Dix and built in Cape Town from the early 1990s. None of the three shares a builder, a designer, or a construction approach with the others, so confirming which boat is actually for sale should come before evaluating anything about its condition.

Which era to target

Within the Prout lineage, the Shearwater III has stayed a restricted rather than a one-design class since its 1959 Royal Yachting Association recognition, so boats built later in the run may carry different ideas than the earliest hulls — worth asking about when comparing two examples. Within the Bolger/Duff lineage, all 11 Shearwater 28s were built in one narrow window, so ownership history matters more than build year: Edey & Duff itself changed hands twice, sold to Tony Andersen in 1987 and then, from his estate, to Harding Boat Works in 2007, which took up building under the Edey & Duff name. Within the Dix lineage, the Shearwater 39 and 45 were both drawn from the early 1990s and offered in GRP, aluminum, or timber, with cold-molded timber detailing worked out separately — construction material is a bigger variable on these hulls than build year, and worth confirming directly rather than assuming from a listing alone.

What to inspect across the range

On the Dix-built Shearwater 39, sailboat-cruising.com flags the chainplates — internal stainless flat bar bolted to glassed-in knees or frames — as worth checking for rust streaks and cracking in the surrounding laminate, recommending removal of interior trim panels to inspect them properly. The same review calls for examining the keel-to-hull joint for weeping, cracking, or previous repairs, checking keel bolts and backing plates for rust or compression, and testing the rudder bearings and skeg-to-hull joint for play or water ingress. It also flags original mild-steel fuel tanks, where fitted, as likely near the end of their service life, and notes that most 39s run older systems given the boat's limited production and lack of parts standardisation. Typical refit items the same source lists include new standing rigging and sails, electronics upgrades, partial or full rewiring, tank replacement, and cosmetic work such as headlining and upholstery.

Navigating the lineup

A buyer's target should follow from what drew them to the name in the first place: racing pedigree points to the Prout-built boat, a small and unusual shoal-draft design points to the Bolger/Duff boat, and a heavier bluewater cruiser points to the Dix-designed pair. Once that choice is made, the full model directory on this page breaks down length and year across all three lineages.