Ker 40 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Ker 40 means stepping into the world of semi-custom grand-prix IRC racers built by McConaghy Boats. These are 40-foot machines with a 4.15-meter beam and 2.6-meter draft, displacing around 4.8 tonnes, conceived by Jason Ker for teams that want custom speed without custom cost. Expect a boat whose interior is bare minimum by Special Regs and whose value lies entirely in the deck, rig, and hull performance.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Ker 40 below decks is uniformly minimalist across the class. A structural bench seat runs from the saloon aft to the transom with pipecots above, a port-side galley and starboard chart table meet only the Special Regs minimum, and the heads is forward of the main bulkhead. Some owners customized their boats with a generous nav station and pipe berths for offshore work, but no cruiser-style layout exists. The cockpit is wide-sided due to hull flare, with tiller steering standard and twin wheels as an optional extra.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The standard rig is a Hall Spars NZ high-modulus carbon mast and boom on rod standing rigging with twin swept-back spreaders and a bolt-on bowsprit. A flying ring jib fairlead on lateral and vertical purchases feeds the primary winches. Power and energy center on a central beam structure beneath the cockpit housing the engine, fuel tank, and batteries anchor. For offshore programs, buyers should look for a Harken pedestal and a proper nav station as meaningful upgrades over the base race layout. Sail inventories on campaigned boats have included A0-3 hybrids, A1, A2, A4, and several jibs developed with North UK.
What to Inspect
Because the Ker 40 is built like a productionised one-off with flanged bulkheads and alloy beams tying the keel head to the mast step, inspect the integrity of those bulkhead flanges and the machined alloy beams for any sign of movement or corrosion at the keel-to-hull junction. The hull is infused E-glass and epoxy over PVC foam core with a painted finish and no gelcoat, so look closely at the painted surfaces for impact cracks or osmotic blistering that would not show through gelcoat. The transom lip is a sharp corner rather than a rounded one; confirm it is undamaged, as its hydrodynamic shape is deliberate. Verify the rod rigging and carbon spreaders for fatigue, and check the bolt-on bowsprit attachment for water ingress at the hull joint.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
With market data unavailable for this class, the practical step is to monitor offshore-racing brokerage channels and judge each hull on campaign history.
- Check bulkhead flanges and alloy keel beams for movement
- Inspect painted hull and deck for cracks or blisters
- Confirm transom lip is undamaged
- Verify rod rigging and bowsprit joint integrity
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Ker 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 25 | 1 | $291,319 | — |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $214,476 | -26.4% |
Where they're listed
Ker 40 listings appear across 2 countries. France has the most listings with 1 (50.0%), followed by New Zealand.
Country view
2 listings · 2 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | $291,319 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| New Zealand | $214,476 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
2 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pogo 40 | 39.96' | $ 185,157 | 17 | 3 |
| Ker 40You are here | — | $ 252,686 | 2 | 0 |