Cavalier 28 Buyer's Guide
The Cavalier 28, known in its New Zealand origins as the Davidson 28, is a Laurie Davidson design from the mid-1970s that has lived a dual life in New Zealand and Australia. Built in modest numbers — fewer than 200 across the nameplates — it attracts used-boat shoppers who want a roomy, easily handled 28-foot cruiser with a real offshore record rather than a racing-rule compromise. Understanding which generation and construction method a given boat represents is the first step in any serious look.
Layouts on the Used Market
The original Davidson 28 placed the galley along most of the starboard side with a port dinette and a private heads forward of the mast, under 1.8 metres of continuous headroom. The first fifty hulls carried timber and plywood decks and cabin, while later boats offered a molded GRP balsa deck and cabin that added slight interior width. In Australia the Cavalier 28 started as an exact copy, then grew to about 30 feet with an inboard rudder, so length and rudder location separate the early New Zealand hulls from the later Australian builds.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Power and energy on these boats centre on the typical Bukh 10 or similar diesel mounted under the cockpit; any inboard installation should be checked for access and age. Sail handling follows a conservatively sized keel-stepped masthead rig that as designed carried four headsails, so a used Cavalier 28’s inventory of headsail sizes and halyard condition matters more than stereo or galley extras. Navigation and deck hardware are straightforward for the era, with no mandated modern electronics. Comfort items are limited to the layout itself — the roomy starboard galley and private forward heads — rather than factory-fitted luxuries, so buyers should judge each boat on completion quality alone.
What to Inspect
Blundell held that the design has no weaknesses when built to specification, apart from the occasional rudder failure, which was usually traced to owners not following Davidson’s drawings anchor. Any outboard, balanced stern-hung rudder should be checked against the designer’s foil shape and pintle alignment. Age-related osmosis is now showing up on these boats after a long clean run, so hull moisture testing belongs in a pre-purchase survey anchor. The lead keel through-bolted with seven 15 mm bolts to solid glassed kauri floors is a structural constant worth confirming for bolt corrosion or floor damage anchor.
Availability and Buyer’s Takeaway
Shoppers should look where these New Zealand and Australian builds historically circulated. For a practical search, keep this short checklist:
- Confirm whether the hull is an early timber-and-ply deck D28 or a later GRP cabin version, or an Australian 30-foot inboard-rudder Cavalier
- Inspect the stern-hung rudder against Davidson’s specified foil shape and check pintles
- Test hull for osmosis given the age-related cases now appearing
- Verify keel bolts and glassed kauri floors for integrity
- Assess amateur-completion quality, since nearly all were finished by owners
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Cavalier 28. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 2 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 1 | $17,500 | — |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $18,710 | +6.9% |
Where they're listed
Cavalier 28 listings appear across 2 countries. Australia has the most listings with 1 (50.0%), followed by Malaysia.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalina 28 | 28.5' | $ 25,000 | 38 | 7 |
| Jeremy Rogers 28 | 27.67' | $ 9,703 | 30 | 11 |
| Sabre 28-2 | 28.42' | $ 14,500 | 15 | 7 |
| One-Off 28 | 28.18' | $ 40,752 | 14 | 2 |
| Jeanneau First 28 | 28.21' | $ 26,586 | 12 | 3 |
| Cavalier 28You are here | — | $ 18,098 | 2 | 0 |