Cheoy Lee Offshore 40 Buyer's Guide
The Cheoy Lee Offshore 40 is a Philip L. Rhodes–designed bluewater cruiser built by Cheoy Lee Shipyard Ltd. in Hong Kong from 1964 to around 1976, with around 160 hulls produced across sloop and yawl rigs. On the brokerage market it presents as a classic fiberglass cruiser with teak trim and a full long keel — a boat whose appeal is sea-kindliness and liveaboard capacity rather than turnkey modernization.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available; ex-charter examples are common. The boat’s narrow 10-foot-9-inch beam and low freeboard keep the interior intimate, but the teak joinery and deck-loading ice box speak to a cruising-oriented plan rather than a charter-volume shell. Either layout preserves the 100-gallon water capacity and 30-gallon diesel tankage that define the boat’s self-sufficient cruising intent.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Commonly fitted equipment on the used market includes bimini, teak decks, inverter, spinnaker, hot water, radar, autopilot, and chartplotter. These are the items a shopper should expect to find already aboard rather than treating as owner upgrades. The original rig carried Sitka spruce spars with an aluminum spar offered as an option, and a traditional masthead sloop rig with a yawl option also common — so rig configuration varies by example and is worth confirming against the specific boat.
What to Inspect
The documented construction is fiberglass hull, deck, and cabin trunk molded to Lloyd’s specifications, with Burma teak trim and a laid strip teak deck. The teak is the primary recurring care item: laid teak decks and trim are beautiful but demand ongoing maintenance, and any softness or fastener corrosion in the deck should be weighed as a restoration cost. The iron ballast substituted for lead is a design choice worth noting during hull inspection, since iron carries a different long-term corrosion profile in the bilge than lead would. Original spruce spars remain on boats that did not take the aluminum option, so rig condition and any past spar replacement belong on the survey list.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Typical markets for the Offshore 40 are the United States, Canada, and Spain. For a shopper, the takeaway is straightforward: confirm the teak deck’s condition, verify whether the original spruce spars were replaced with aluminum, and understand that iron ballast is the standard — not a defect. Expect commonly fitted cruising electronics and a boat suited to extended cruising or liveaboard use.
- Inspect laid teak decks and trim for softness or fastener issues
- Confirm spar material (original Sitka spruce vs. aluminum option)
- Note iron ballast as standard, not a fault
- Expect owner three-cabin layouts most commonly; ex-charter examples common
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Cheoy Lee Offshore 40. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25 | 1 | $ 28,800 | — |
| May 26 | 1 | $ 55,000 | +91.0% |
Where they're listed
Cheoy Lee Offshore 40 listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $ 55,000 | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
4 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Packet 40 | 40' | $ 159,000 | 42 | 11 |
| Hughes 40 | 40' | $ 69,900 | 17 | 3 |
| Bayfield 40 | 45.5' | $ 98,500 | 7 | 4 |
| Cheoy Lee Offshore 40You are here | — | $ 55,000 | 1 | 1 |