Antares 17 Buyer's Guide
The Antares 17 is a 17-foot American trailerable sailboat built by Sovereign Yachts from 1987, developed from the Sovereign 17 with a new deck, and offered on the used market as a compact daysailer and pocket cruiser. A buyer shopping used Antares 17s will find a light, easily towed monohull of 1,150 pounds displacement and 7-foot beam, with a cuddy cabin and cockpit berths that suit weekend coastal cruising rather than long passages.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every example follows the same essential plan: a cuddy cabin forward with a galley to port and starboard — stove to port, sink to starboard, portable head between — and an ice chest stowed in the forepeak. Sleeping for two is arranged in the open cockpit rather than enclosed below, so the boat reads as a daysailer with camp-cruising capability. The helm is a tiller atop a transom-hung rudder, and a small outboard lives in a stern well for docking. Keel configuration may be a fixed fin or a stub keel with centerboard; the stub-and-board version extends shallow-water reach but both share the 1.83-foot fin draft baseline.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Used Antares 17s commonly carry a watermaker, solar panels, an inverter, and a hardtop, and circumnavigation-oriented setups are also commonly fitted — a notable equipment level for a 17-foot trailerable. For a buyer, the solar-and-inverter cluster means reasonable off-grid power for the portable galley and small electronics, while a hardtop adds cockpit shelter absent in the original open layout. A watermaker is a substantial upgrade on a boat of this size and worth verifying for condition and mounting stress.
What to Inspect
The boat is built predominantly of fiberglass with solid hull and deck anchor, but a survey should still confirm the stern-well outboard mounting for stress or leakage at the well boundaries, since the motor is housed there for docking and maneuvering. The stub-keel-and-centerboard versions warrant close inspection of the centerboard trunk and pivot for wear.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats appear in the United States and French Polynesia. For a shopper, the checklist is brief: confirm keel type (fin vs stub/centerboard), verify the cuddy galley and portable head are intact, test the outboard in its stern well, and assess any commonly fitted watermaker, solar, inverter, or hardtop as upgrades rather than standard gear.
- Decide fin keel or stub/centerboard for your cruising grounds
- Check stern-well outboard mounting for leaks or structural strain
- Confirm cuddy galley (stove, sink, head) and forepeak ice chest
- Evaluate solar, inverter, hardtop, watermaker as owner-fitted upgrades
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Antares 17. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 25 | 2 | $499,500 | — |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $455,000 | -8.9% |
| May 26 | 1 | $499,500 | +9.8% |
Where they're listed
Antares 17 listings appear across 2 countries. United States has the most listings with 3 (75.0%), followed by French Polynesia.
Country view
4 listings · 2 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $499,500 | 3 | 0 | 75.0% |
| French Polynesia | $455,000 | 1 | 0 | 25.0% |