Alpa 38 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used Alpa 38 means looking at a Sparkman & Stephens-designed, Italian-built fiberglass cruiser from the mid seventies, a masthead sloop with a lead fin keel and a heavy-displacement hull suited to long-distance sailing. These boats remain concentrated in one market region, and the available sources describe their rigging and condition points rather than sales volume or pricing.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Alpa 38 carries a 37-foot-3-inch hull with an 11-foot-2-inch beam and a 27-foot-3-inch waterline, proportions that yield a narrow, heavy cruiser footprint rather than a broad modern interior. Each used example should be judged on its own fitted layout. The lead fin keel draws about five feet loaded, a draft that lets most boats into ordinary marina berths without special arrangement.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, a cockpit shower, autopilot, and life raft are commonly fitted to Alpa 38 boats offered in Italy anchor. Beyond that triad, the available sources do not list other recurring equipment, so buyers should treat any navigation electronics, sail-handling gear, or auxiliary power additions as individual-boat variables rather than standard. The practical consequence is that a buyer in this class is mostly evaluating the hull, rig, and the three common safety-and-comfort items, then negotiating around whatever else the particular seller has installed.
What to Inspect
Inspection should focus on the boat's construction: a fiberglass hull with a lead keel and a masthead rig whose halyards and sheets run to known lengths and diameters. Verify that the mainsail, genoa, and spinnaker halyards each measure about 101 feet at half-inch diameter, and that sheet lengths match the 93-foot mainsheet and 37-foot genoa sheet, since oversize or shortened running rigging can signal improvised repairs. The keel-hull joint and the fin profile should be checked as on any lead-keel fiberglass cruiser.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Alpa 38 boats are typically found in Italy, the one market region named in the available brief. For a shopper, the takeaway is straightforward:
- Expect a commonly fitted cockpit shower, autopilot, and life raft as the baseline safety-comfort set
- Confirm the masthead rig's halyard and sheet dimensions before accepting rigging as original
- Treat interior layout and any extra equipment as per-boat rather than model-standard
- Budget survey attention to the fiberglass hull and lead fin keel joint
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Alpa 38. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 3 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 1 | $35,592 | — |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $58,035 | +63.1% |
| Apr 26 | 1 | $55,613 | -4.2% |
Where they're listed
Alpa 38 listings appear across 1 country. Italy has the most listings with 2.
Country view
2 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | $56,824 | 2 | 0 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanson 38 S&S | 38.25' | $ 71,916 | 16 | 4 |
| Sigma 38 | 38.33' | $ 50,052 | 13 | 3 |
| Hinckley Yachts 38 | 37.5' | $ 68,500 | 13 | 4 |
| Alajuela 38 | 46' | $ 40,000 | 11 | 3 |
| Morgan 38 | 37.67' | $ 69,000 | 5 | 1 |
| Alpa 38You are here | — | $ 56,824 | 2 | 0 |