Gallart 13.5 MS Buyer's Guide
The Gallart 13.5M is a limited-production bluewater cruiser from Astilleros Gallart SA in Barcelona, with construction starting around 1983–1984. Designed by D. Presles, this 43.96-foot fiberglass ketch or sloop was built in small numbers as a spacious, seaworthy yacht for ocean passages, extended cruising, or liveaboard use — which means any buyer is shopping a scarce, mature design rather than a common brokerage staple.
Layouts on the Used Market
Most boats show the sleeping arrangement of three cabins with occasional separate crew berths, giving bunks for six to eight or more through a bow V-berth, main saloon, galley, private head, and stern sleeping areas. Interior finishes are teak or practical surfaces, and the 14.11-foot beam gives the volume needed for liveaboard comfort. Because production was limited, layout variations between hulls are a matter of individual specification rather than a broad model range, so each boat must be assessed on its own fitted plan.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Original auxiliary power is Volvo Penta diesel, and the design's 224-gallon fuel and 211-gallon water capacities are fixed background traits rather than upgrades. For a buyer, the consequential equipment clusters are power and energy — the diesel installation and any added generator or watermaker that extends independence offshore — and sail handling, where the ketch rig and any updated winches or furling reduce crew load on a 15-ton hull. Navigation and canvas upgrades matter less to seaworthiness but affect value; the boats worth pursuing are those where the owner invested in the systems that keep a passage-making yacht self-sufficient.
What to Inspect
A 1980s fiberglass hull with original Volvo Penta diesels demands a full mechanical survey and osmosis check. The robust build quality often described as extremely strong should be verified against any localized repair, and the fin keel and skeg-hung rudder need close examination for grounding damage given the 5.74-foot draft. Accommodation joinery and tankage should be tested for the leaks and wear that follow decades of liveaboard or passage use.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Market availability is not regionally characterized in the brief, so shoppers should treat the 13.5M as a boat to locate through broad search rather than a local inventory item. For the buyer, the takeaway is straightforward: confirm hull integrity and engine condition first, then judge the layout against your liveaboard or passage plan, and budget for system renewal on a limited-production yacht whose strengths are seakeeping and space rather than turnkey modernity.
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
3 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siltala 38 | 37.5' | $ 110,625 | 59 | 17 |
| Nauticat 44 | 43.67' | $ 154,292 | 40 | 3 |
| Northshore 37 MS | 42.52' | $ 88,284 | 19 | 9 |