Bowman 46 Corsair Buyer's Guide
The Bowman 46 Corsair on the brokerage market is a Holman & Pye-designed, Bowman Yachts-built 46-foot cruiser from the early seventies, available in stub/centreboard or long-keel form with a single-cabin, five-berth interior and a masthead rig. Shopping one means weighing the keel choice against your cruising grounds and treating each boat as an individual spec set rather than a uniform production run, since the sources do not state a build total or end year.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available. The documented factory interior is one cabin with 5 berths and 643 litres of fresh water, so a three-cabin boat has been reconfigured from that baseline — verify how the berth count and tank access were preserved in any split. The stub/centreboard keel (1.68–1.78 m draft) suits mixed harbour and anchorage use; the long keel (2.13–2.23 m) is a major-marina-only proposition.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, autopilot, chartplotter, teak decks, heating, inverter, bimini, hardtop, radar, and AIS are commonly fitted. Air conditioning, solar, spinnaker, bow thruster, freezer, hot water, EPIRB, life raft, and short-handed setup are often seen. The masthead rig's original line estimates — 33.7 m halyards at 14 mm, 16 mm sheets — make running-rigging renewal a routine, non-specialist item rather than a flagged upgrade.
What to Inspect
The source material records no documented structural defects, osmosis, or systems failures for this model, so inspection should focus on the configuration-specific items the sources do describe. Confirm which keel alternative is fitted and whether the centreboard trunk or long-keel stub shows wear, since draft and marina access turn on that choice. Check the fresh-water capacity of 643 litres (169 US gallons) against tank condition, and verify the masthead rig's halyard and sheet lengths (33.7 m halyards, 14–35 m sheets) match the installed spar to avoid mismatched replacements.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Typical markets for the Bowman 46 Corsair are Spain and Portugal. For a buyer, the short checklist is: confirm keel type versus your draft needs; verify the single-cabin or three-cabin reconfiguration and 643-litre tank; inspect rigging against the documented masthead dimensions; and expect commonly fitted navigation and comfort gear rather than bare boats. The long-keel version is the deeper-draft, major-marina-limited choice; the centreboard version is the flexible alternative.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Bowman 46 Corsair. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 5 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 1 | $ 52,508 | — |
| Jan 26 | 2 | $ 273,684 | +421.2% |
| Mar 26 | 1 | $ 39,045 | -85.7% |
| May 26 | 1 | $ 47,123 | +20.7% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 47,123 | 0.0% |
Where they're listed
Bowman 46 Corsair listings appear across 2 countries. Spain has the most listings with 5 (83.3%), followed by Portugal.
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Swan 46 | 47.08' | $ 150,000 | 24 | 3 |
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| Moody 46 | 46.13' | $ 256,995 | 6 | 1 |