Catalina Capri 26 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Catalina Capri 26 means considering a trailerable cruiser-racer that Catalina Yachts built in the United States from 1990 to 1999, 320 of them in all before the design left production. Frank W. Butler and Gerry Douglas drew her in response to smaller-Capri owners who wanted more "large boat" comfort and family space, and the result is a 26-foot fiberglass keelboat with wooden trim that still trails behind a vehicle. She is a masthead sloop with a walk-through reverse transom, spade rudder on tiller, and a deep fin or shallow wing keel option.
Layouts on the Used Market
Because the Capri 26 was offered with a fixed fin keel or an optional shoal-draft wing keel, used boats split between standard and shallow-water configurations; the wing variant matters most for trailering to shallow ramps. Below, every example provides sleeping for four: two straight settees that join over a lowerable drop-leaf table in the main cabin, plus an aft cabin with a large double berth under the cockpit. The galley to starboard just forward of the companionway holds a two-burner recessed stove, ice box, and pressurized sink, while the head sits opposite on port. Headroom over six feet and a near-ten-foot beam give a humungus main-cabin double, but the aft berth can feel constricted to those with claustrophobia, a point to verify in person. Ventilation runs through four main-cabin ports and a cockpit port to the aft berth.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, boats often carry a bimini, spinnaker, and autopilot as common cruising upgrades, while a dodger, swim platform, air conditioning, asymmetric spinnaker, and simplified short-handed rigging appear as less frequent owner additions. The inboard two-cylinder diesel fitted for docking and maneuvering is a baseline specification rather than an upgrade. For a buyer, the meaningful clusters are sail-handling and cockpit cover (bimini and spinnaker or asymmetric for downwind ease), and steering aid (autopilot for short-handed docking); the remaining comfort items are secondary to structural and layout checks.
What to Inspect
Two habitability constraints deserve a look aboard any candidate. Testers reported the aft berth can feel somewhat constricted to those with claustrophobia, so confirm the space works for your crew. More practically, there is no significant stowage area amidships other than on the cabin sole under the table, which limits provisioning and gear stowage for longer stays. Neither points to hull or rigging damage, but both shape how the boat fits your plans.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Capri 26 boats typically appear in the United States, Australia, and Georgia. For a shopper, the checklist is short: confirm keel type (fin vs wing) against your home waters, board the aft berth for fit, check amidships stowage needs against the cabin-sole limitation, and verify the inboard diesel and any often-seen autopilot or spinnaker are operational. She remains a family-sized trailerable cruiser-racer with a defined production run and no open structural warnings.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Catalina Capri 26. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 15 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25 | 1 | $14,500 | — |
| Jun 25 | 3 | $13,900 | -4.1% |
| Jul 25 | 1 | $1,000 | -92.8% |
| Aug 25 | 1 | $5,000 | +400.0% |
| Sep 25 | 3 | $13,900 | +178.0% |
| Nov 25 | 2 | $9,999 | -28.1% |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $6,900 | -31.0% |
| Jan 26 | 4 | $9,500 | +37.7% |
| Feb 26 | 4 | $14,500 | +52.6% |
| Mar 26 | 7 | $10,000 | -31.0% |
| Apr 26 | 6 | $7,075 | -29.3% |
| May 26 | 4 | $5,500 | -22.3% |
| Jun 26 | 4 | $14,000 | +154.5% |
| Jul 26 | 3 | $7,500 | -46.4% |
| Aug 26 | 1 | $7,000 | -6.7% |
Where they're listed
Catalina Capri 26 listings appear across 2 countries. United States has the most listings with 38 (95.0%), followed by Australia.
Country view
40 listings · 2 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $9,975 | 38 | 8 | 95.0% |
| Australia | $13,450 | 2 | 0 | 5.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
2 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalina Capri 26You are here | — | $ 9,975 | 40 | 8 |
| Hunter Marine 26 | 25.75' | $ 12,500 | 15 | 10 |