Alberg 35 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used market for a Pearson Alberg 35 means looking at a Carl Alberg-designed long-keel cruiser built by Pearson Yachts from 1961 through 1967, with 280 hulls produced. These are boats of a specific era: narrow on the waterline, short by modern 35-foot standards, and pitched in their day as proven ocean racers and cruisers. For a buyer, the appeal is the easy seaway motion and the trackable hull rather than speed or volume.
Layouts on the Used Market
Two below-decks arrangements were built. Both share a large forward cabin with V-berths, hanging locker, bureau, and drawers, plus a full-width head aft of it with Dorade cowl vents. The traditional layout follows a conventional aft-galley plan with a two-burner alcohol stove and small sink, while the dinette version converts the table to a double and adds quarterberths under the cockpit, with a stove well sized for a three-burner gimballed oven. Headroom reaches 6 feet 4 inches in the main cabin. Main-cabin ventilation is only through the companionway hatch, and galley counters sit low because of the boat's modest freeboard. Either plan gives six berths standard and many large lockers for sails and gear.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The factory standard was a masthead sloop or yawl with a varnished spruce roller-reefing main boom and no mainsheet traveler; all boats carried an Atomic 4 gasoline engine. A frequent owner-driven change has been adding a bowsprit to make a cutter rig with yankee and staysail, and most survivors carry the optional pedestal wheel steering rather than the space-consuming tiller. A bolt-in Universal diesel conversion is a known path where the original gas engine has been retired.
What to Inspect
Several owners report that the balsa coring under the mast has crushed, allowing the cabin top to compress anchor. Early decks built with edge-grain rather than end-grain balsa can flex and break the skin-to-core bond. Big cockpit lockers have poor latches and drain directly to the bilge, so check for water ingress paths. Some hulls show a void between the lead keel casting and the fiberglass shell along the bottom, leaving the shell exposed to grounding damage. Early boats may still carry galvanized fuel and water tanks that eventually rust through; late boats specify an integral fiberglass water tank and a monel fuel tank.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats are found on the used market in the United States. For a buyer, the short list is: confirm whether deck coring at the mast step has crushed; inspect early decks for broken core bonds and check cockpit locker drainage to the bilge; look for keel-shell voids and verify tank material by build era; decide between traditional and dinette layouts and note any cutter conversion or diesel repower. The Alberg 35 rewards a careful survey with a stable, seakindly coastal and offshore cruiser of modest volume.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Alberg 35. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 2 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26 | 2 | $21,500 | — |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $21,500 | 0.0% |
Where they're listed
Alberg 35 listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 3.
Country view
3 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $21,500 | 3 | 3 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
6 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dufour 35 | 35.25' | $ 30,000 | 27 | 4 |
| Moody 35 | 34.5' | $ 64,976 | 25 | 4 |
| Pearson 35 | 35' | $ 19,000 | 15 | 3 |
| Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 | 35' | $ 25,000 | 14 | 4 |
| Nicholson Nicholson 35 | 35.25' | $ 41,451 | 10 | 2 |
| Alberg 35You are here | — | $ 21,500 | 3 | 3 |