Southern Cross sailboats for sale

Buying a used Southern Cross: know who finished the interior, not just which model

A used Southern Cross carries a wrinkle that most single-design lines don't: identical hulls left the Bristol, Rhode Island yard finished either at the factory or by their original owner, and were sold under two different names for exactly that reason. Confirming which path a given boat took matters as much as its size, since interior fit, systems, and finish quality can vary considerably between a factory-finished Southern Cross and an owner-finished "Gillmer" of the same design.

Which era to target

Every Southern Cross was built within one fifteen-year window, 1975 to 1990, by a single yard working from one designer's lines, so there's no sharp construction-era boundary the way there is with marques that changed builders or philosophy midstream. The boundary that matters instead is completion path: the "Gillmer" name for owner-finished hulls wasn't formalized until around 1985, even though Ryder's three-level kit system had existed since early production. That means an early hull sold and titled as a "Southern Cross" could still have been owner-completed; the bronze builder's medallion, not the name on the title, is the reliable marker of a factory finish.

What to inspect across the range

Documented problem points cluster around aging seals and fittings rather than the structure itself. Good Old Boat's review of the 28 found that its hull-to-deck rubber gasket can harden with age and cyclic loading, letting the joint leak, and relayed one owner's report that the semi-exposed rudder -- which extends below the skeg -- is prone to catching lobster-pot lines along the Maine coast. Cruising World's review of the 35 flagged two other age-related points: the mast can corrode where it rests on the stainless-steel mast step after several years (curable by trimming the mast and raising the step on an epoxy-glass pad), and the plywood dorade boxes are prone to deterioration. Neither review reported structural hull or deck problems -- Cruising World specifically noted that the 35's hull and deck don't deflect or groan underway, despite an unusually heavy, double-layered layup. On the 39, later hulls moved the propeller into a protective aperture in the rudder, worth checking for on the earliest boats of that model.

Navigating the lineup

The line runs from the 28 up through the 31, 35, and 39, all sharing Gillmer's double-ended hull form and Ryder's construction approach rather than representing separate design generations -- sizing is mostly a function of berths and stowage, not a change in what the boat is. Keep the naming split in mind while comparing sizes, too: a listing titled "Gillmer" isn't a lesser or separate line, just an owner-finished hull of one of the same four designs. From there, matching size to need is best done against the full model directory on this page.