Ericson 39 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

The standard flush-deck 39 carries its mahogany interior low, with the galley to starboard featuring two forward-facing sinks, a three-burner stove outboard, and an icebox aft, opposite a settee berth and a quarterberth running under the aft-facing nav station. The saloon has facing settees around a centerline table, the head sits forward to port and is not overly spacious, and a large hanging locker opposite the head provides stowage with chain locker access at the berth head; the V-berth is very good in size with low bunks. The 39B instead uses an offset companionway to fit an aft cabin to port, raises the cabintrunk for more headroom, and trades the two cockpit lockers of the standard boat for a single one, with the traveler and sheet usually located aft and the wheel and pedestals mounted aft in the cockpit on inspected examples.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

Most boats on the market commonly carry heating, bimini, radar, AIS, autopilot, chartplotter, life raft, and short-handed setups, and often seen additions include solar, inverter, and spinnaker. The original winches were typically Barlow or Barient and need not be rushed into replacement. Most 39s have small bow anchor rollers, so a boat with a serious anchoring arrangement is a notable plus rather than a standard fitting. The forward hatch on the flush deck is huge while the 39B has a more moderately sized one, and the wheel placement just behind the bridgedeck with an emergency tillerhead farther aft is consistent across the design.

What to Inspect

Documented issues center on the balsa-cored flush deck, where signs of deck delamination are not uncommon and warrant survey. The huge forward hatch is not immune to leaks, and because the chainplates are secured to the main bulkhead, any leakage may have rotted that plywood structure. The original 20-gallon iron fuel tank should have been changed out, and the engine is shoehorned behind the companionway steps so access is poor; some boats still have the original Atomic 4 30-horsepower gas engine though most have repowered with diesels, and early examples came with the Atomic 4 before Ericson began using the Westerbeke 30. Both models are apparently difficult to steer in reverse, a handling point to confirm at sea trial.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

Typical markets for the Ericson 39 are Spain, the United States, and the Netherlands. For a buyer, the checklist is straightforward: confirm deck coring and bulkhead condition at the chainplates, verify fuel tank replacement and engine access reality, prefer a diesel repower, and decide early whether the flush-deck's efficiency or the 39B's headroom and aft cabin better fits the intended use. Inspect the forward hatch for leaks, and treat a serious anchor roller as a bonus on a boat whose standard rollers are small.