Tamarisk sailboats for sale

Buying a used Tamarisk: a design line, not a single yard's product

A used Tamarisk listing isn't a listing from one boatbuilder. "Tamarisk" names naval architect David M. Cannell's gaff-cutter design series, produced as the 19, 22, 24 and 29. That distinction matters for a buyer: consistency here comes from one designer's lines, not from one yard's ongoing quality control, so an individual hull's condition and its builder carry more weight than the Tamarisk name alone. Of the four sizes, only the 19 has a clearly documented builder: Honnor Marine Classics.

Which era to target

Cannell's own account puts the Tamarisk 24 first: the initial design of his newly formed practice to be completed and built, from around the same period — 1972 — he joined his professional bodies and set up his design business. Building a gaff cutter in fibreglass was unusual enough at the time that traditional gaff sailors considered it heretical, and Cornish Crabbers and similar builders reportedly followed the Tamarisk 24 into GRP afterward — worth knowing if you're weighing a Tamarisk against those later, similar-looking gaff cutters. The Tamarisk 19 isn't that originating boat: per Honnor Marine, it was conceived later as a weekend cruiser meant to carry forward the character of an earlier Tamarisk class. Treat any listing that dates a 19 to 1972 with skepticism — that year belongs to the 24, not the 19.

Navigating the lineup

Within the four sizes, the 19 is the one still actively built, by Honnor Marine Classics, with a fibreglass hull and deck, spruce spars, and ballasted with 440 kg of lead. The 24 and 29 are the larger boats from Cannell's original 1970s design run — the 24 among them the hull Honnor Marine says sailed single-handed around the world. Buyers wanting the smallest, newest-built option should look to the 19; those after the line's original gaff-cutter debut should compare the 24 and 29 on the full model directory on this page.