Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 Encore Buyer's Guide
The Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 Encore on the brokerage market is the later interior generation of Mark Ellis's 35-foot Canadian cruiser, built by Hinterhoeller Yachts. It trades the original Classic's forward workshop for a conventional V-berth forward while keeping the same long cruising-fin keel, semicored hull, and aft-cabin accommodation. Shoppers will find a beamy, 15,000 lb boat with secure bulwarks and a roomy aft cockpit, offered with a wide range of owner-fitted cruising equipment.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Encore version carries a conventional V-berth forward, with the aft cabin arranged as a smallish double berth to port and a quarter berth to starboard. A chart table at standing height crowns a broad chest at the foot of the quarter berth, and doors connect the aft cabin to both head and galley. The main living space is set mostly ahead of the mast step and clears 6 feet overhead, with settees that become good sea berths with lee cloths. Teak sole, molded overhead inlay, and oiled teak joinerwork mark the interior. The cockpit is large with high-backed seats and deep lockers below.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Boats commonly come with bimini, dodger, dinghy davits, and chartplotter as baseline cruising kit. Beyond those, buyers will often see watermaker, air conditioning, heating, solar, lithium batteries, inverter, furling main, freezer, hot water, swim platform, cockpit shower, AIS, autopilot, Starlink, and EPIRB fitted by prior owners. For a shopper, the power-and-energy cluster — solar, lithium, inverter, heating — determines whether the boat can sit at anchor without a generator. Navigation and safety additions such as chartplotter, AIS, autopilot, Starlink, and EPIRB turn a coastal boat into a passagemaker. Canvas and sail-handling gear like bimini, dodger, davits, and furling main reduce crew workload; comfort items including watermaker, air conditioning, freezer, hot water, swim platform, and cockpit shower speak to liveaboard intent.
What to Inspect
On older hulls the balsa deck core wants a moisture test at every through-fitted penetration, because the same coring runs in hull and deck and the semicored hull also bears watching anchor. Press around chainplate bases, winch bolts, and hatch frames; soft spots or dark staining signal absorbed moisture. The hull itself is semicored and needs to be monitored anchor, so sound the topsides below the waterline and look for any repaired rock strike — one owner's boat took a Georgian Bay hit with only mangled lead on the keel leading edge and no incoming water, but a poorly repaired sump or keel joint is a structural risk. Niagara 35s aren't known to have blister problems, so gelcoat soundness rather than osmosis is the usual bottom story.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats typically appear in Canada and the United States. Before committing, run through a short checklist:
- Sound the deck core around every fitting for softness.
- Inspect chainplate knees and hull-to-deck bond for staining.
- Verify the keel sump and leading edge for prior impact repair.
- Confirm the Encore forward berth matches the layout you want.
- Test engine access behind the companionway stairs.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 Encore. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 5 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25 | 1 | $22,000 | — |
| Sep 25 | 1 | $44,900 | +104.1% |
| Dec 25 | 2 | $71,227 | +58.6% |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $28,346 | -60.2% |
| Apr 26 | 1 | $87,000 | +206.9% |
Where they're listed
Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 Encore listings appear across 2 countries. Canada has the most listings with 4 (80.0%), followed by United States.
Country view
5 listings · 2 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $51,177 | 4 | 0 | 80.0% |
| United States | $87,000 | 1 | 0 | 20.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
10 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabre 36 | 36' | $ 47,500 | 21 | 7 |
| Ericson 35-3 | 35.5' | $ 21,900 | 21 | 8 |
| Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 | 35' | $ 25,000 | 14 | 4 |
| CS 33 | 32.67' | $ 21,500 | 13 | 2 |
| Dufour Classic 35 | 35' | $ 52,114 | 13 | 0 |
| Nicholson Nicholson 35 | 35.25' | $ 39,209 | 10 | 2 |
| Endeavour 35 | 35.42' | $ 35,594 | 9 | 1 |
| Granada 35 | 35.76' | $ 34,846 | 8 | 6 |
| Saga 35 | 36.5' | $ 89,000 | 7 | 4 |
| Hinterhoeller Niagara 35 EncoreYou are here | — | $ 57,454 | 5 | 0 |