Cape Cod 896 Buyer's Guide
The Cape Cod 896 on the used market is a 35ft 5in French-built daysailer that first reached North America for the 2020 season and promptly took SAIL's Best Daysailer award. Her lines are the work of Hervé Nollet and Clément Salzes, and Rosewest of Bordeaux built her as a centerboard dayboat with a plumb bow and long transom mimicking a 19th-century pilot cutter. For a shopper, the appeal is a shallow-draft social boat that sails well short-handed rather than a pocket cruiser.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every example follows the same dayboat plan. The forward cockpit carries a long U-shaped settee with seating for six, its collapsible teak table stowing flat against a low engine box. Aft, the working cockpit sits behind a pair of self-tailing Harken 35 winches set well inboard, arranged so a single helmsperson can handle lines and tiller. Forward of the mast, a large deck hatch opens to a low interior with two berths and a chemical toilet — a occasional-sleeping space, not a proper cabin. A locker holds a swim ladder and a freshwater showerhead for post-swim rinsing.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The standard boat arrives with a black anodized Seldén aluminum rig and a 14hp diesel inboard. The meaningful upgrade to look for is the optional carbon rig, which trades weight aloft for a livelier feel. The long retractable bowsprit supports a modern gennaker or A-sail and a high-cut yankee flown cutter-style, so offwind sail-handling gear is already part of the design rather than an owner add-on. Beyond the rig, buyer-consequence equipment clusters around power and energy — the small diesel and its charging role — and around sail handling, where the inboard winches and bowsprit define what the boat can fly.
What to Inspect
The hull is solid glass in polyester with a vinylester skin, and the deck is Airex-foam cored and epoxied to the hull anchor. On any used example, check the cored deck for softness and the epoxy bond line for separation, since those are the structural interfaces unique to this build. The heavy cast-iron centerboard and kick-up high-aspect rudder should be cycled to confirm they retract and strike cleanly. The finish quality is superb with fine wood trim, so inspect the brightwork for UV and water damage that would be out of character for a cared-for boat.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Regional availability is not specified in the sources, so shoppers should treat the Cape Cod 896 as a niche import best found through national brokerage searches rather than local listings. For the walkthrough, confirm: centerboard and rudder retract smoothly; deck core and hull-to-deck bond are sound; Seldén rig is standard or carbon is optioned; bowsprit flies gennaker and yankee as described; cockpit settee and table fold as intended; interior berths and chemical toilet intact; swim ladder and showerhead present in locker.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Cape Cod 896. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 1 row
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26 | 2 | $184,535 | — |
Where they're listed
Cape Cod 896 listings appear across 1 country. France has the most listings with 2.
Country view
2 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | $184,535 | 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
5 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol 35.5 | 35.5' | $ 38,000 | 39 | 10 |
| Bristol 29.9 | 29.92' | $ 10,950 | 12 | 1 |
| Cape Dory 33 | 33.04' | $ 31,750 | 10 | 2 |
| Cape George 36 | 36' | $ 89,500 | 9 | 1 |
| Rosewest 896You are here | — | $ 184,535 | 2 | 0 |