Laurent Giles Vertue Buyer's Guide
A 25-foot Laurent Giles long-keel cruiser, the Vertue has a continuous build history from its 1936 prototype, and more than 200 hulls have been completed worldwide in wood, glassfibre, and other materials. For a buyer on the brokerage market, the appeal is a small yacht with a genuine ocean pedigree — Barton's 1950 Atlantic crossing and David Lewis's Cape Horn record aboard Cardinal Vertue — rather than modern volume. The class evolved through several accommodation-focused variations, so used examples differ more below than on the waterline.
Layouts on the Used Market
Early Vertues such as the 10 "original" hulls carried a short cabin trunk aft of a keel-stepped mast, lower freeboard, and a slightly jaunty sheer, with headroom as low as 5 feet 8 inches under the sliding hatch. Post-war boats gained a doghouse for standing headroom aft and a coachroof-stepped mast, and later revisions raised and flattened the sheer for more sitting headroom. The 1976 fiberglass redraw added 8 inches of beam and 5 inches of length. A buyer should treat headroom and bunk width as the principal layout differentiators: some owners, as on Caupona, have re-angled settee backs to gain two inches of bunk width, but the fundamental footprint stays compact.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Heating, a dodger, autopilot, and chartplotter are commonly fitted on used Laurent Giles Vertues, reflecting the boat's use as a short-handed cruiser. For buyer consequence, the meaningful clusters are power and energy — a single-cylinder diesel such as Caupona's 10hp Bukh with unknown vintage — and navigation, where a chartplotter joins the autopilot for solo passages. Canvas and sail handling center on the dodger and boom tent seen on period boats for cockpit shelter. Comfort items like heating round out liveaboard use. A buyer should verify engine provenance and that autopilot and plotter are functional rather than decorative.
What to Inspect
Inspection should focus on the structure these boats are known for. Wooden hulls such as RAUMATI pair teak bottoms with mahogany topsides over English oak and bronze floors, while Caupona shows larch on oak with closely spaced sawn frames and steamed ribs anchor. Keel bolts are a known owner concern: one owner replaced sound bolts purely for peace of mind, so evidence of past bolt work or corrosion matters anchor. Where a boat carries a lead keel and bronze floors, check for electrolytic action.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Typical markets for the Vertue are the United Kingdom and Australia. For a shopper, the takeaway is to match layout era to need, confirm the diesel's condition, and inspect traditional fastenings closely.
- Decide between original short-trunk and later doghouse headroom
- Verify autopilot, chartplotter, heating, dodger are fitted and working
- Inspect keel bolts, oak framing, and bronze-to-lead interfaces
- Expect compact beam and manual anchoring on most examples
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Laurent Giles Vertue. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 1 | $8,625 | — |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $34,639 | +301.6% |
Where they're listed
Laurent Giles Vertue listings appear across 2 countries. Australia has the most listings with 1 (50.0%), followed by United Kingdom.
Country view
2 listings · 2 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | $34,639 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| United Kingdom | $8,625 | 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
3 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Victoria 30 | 29.67' | $ 26,542 | 15 | 6 |
| Vancouver 27 | 27' | $ 23,822 | 13 | 6 |
| Laurent Giles VertueYou are here | — | $ 21,632 | 2 | 0 |