Columbia 8.7 Sailboats for Sale & Market Overview

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull type

Monohull · fin

Rig

Masthead Sloop

LOA

28.58' · 8.71 m

Displ.

8,500 lbs · 3,856 kg

First year

1976

The Columbia 8.7 represents a radical departure from the traditional narrowbeam cruisers of the 1960s, emerging in 1976 as part of a new "widebody" generation of yachts produced under the Whittaker Corporation’s ownership. Designed by the esteemed Australian naval architect Alan Payne—famed for his work on the America’s Cup challengers Gretel and Gretel II—the 8.7 was engineered to maximize internal volume and stability without sacrificing the seaworthiness for which Payne was known. Measuring 28 feet 7 inches overall, the boat’s most striking characteristic is its 10foot beam, a dimension more typical of a 32foot vessel during that era. This design philosophy was shared with its sibling models in the Paynedesigned lineup, including the smaller Columbia 7.6 and the larger Columbia 10.7 (35 feet), all of which featured a distinctive "bustle" near the stern and a skeghung rudder.