Martin 242 Buyer's Guide
A strict-class 24-foot ultralight, the Martin 242 still rewards the used-boat shopper who wants a racer with minimal cruising pretense. Don Martin drew her without regard to rating, and the type has been built in two waves — originally by Martin Yachts of Richmond, B.C., and later again by MG Marine in Marina del Rey, California. With more than 350 sold and a solid one-design class on the West Coast, there is a real fleet to buy into, though the boat's stark interior means you are purchasing a speedster first and a weekender a distant second.
Layouts on the Used Market
Two layout lineages matter to a buyer. The standard boat carries a very basic interior: two quarter berths and a V berth, later detailed as 6-foot 6-inch berths fore and aft with molded lockers. The MORC factory option brought inboard shrouds, extra hull reinforcement, and inboard genoa tracks — a meaningful structural upgrade for anyone eyeing offshore rule racing. The optional portable galley that slides out from under the cockpit is a buyer's clue to how little fixed interior the design commits to. Most examples are out west, which is also where the one-design class is established.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Factory standard equipment centers on safety and race readiness: bow and stern pulpits, lifelines, spinnaker gear, an electrical package, cushions, and main, jib, and spinnaker. The rig itself is simple — a tall fractional setup with a huge main, a small roller-furling jib, and a symmetric spinnaker — so the principal buyer consequences are sail-handling and power. All sail controls lead aft along the cabin top to each side of the companionway, which supports short-handed trimming without a genoa-winch-crowded rail. Beyond that, the canted side decks and radiused edges are design features rather than upgrades; the buyer's real upgrade path is the MORC stiffening package rather than creature comforts.
What to Inspect
The cored hull and deck — balsa in both — demand a moisture survey. Owners have reported rot in the core on the foredeck and down the gunwales, so sound the foredeck and the full length of the gunwale with a meter before committing. Inside, check the quarter berths: Canadian Boating found the backrests sit too far outboard, so your head hits the cabin side before your back is supported — a comfort defect that is also a clue to how the berths were finished. The bonded outboard rolled-flange hull-deck joint should be examined for separation given the boat's age and racing use.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Most Martin 242s are out west, where the one-design class is solid; Ontario boats race MORC and PHRF but no local class had formed in the period reviewed. For a shopper, the takeaway is a short checklist: confirm whether the hull is the standard or factory MORC version; meter the balsa core on foredeck and gunwales for rot; verify the hull-deck bond is intact; and accept the quarter-berth geometry as designed rather than expecting to fix it cheaply. Buy the strict one-design for the racing, not the cabin.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Martin 242. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 1 row
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25 | 2 | $20,000 | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saffier SE 24 | 26.25' | $ 161,867 | 18 | 2 |
| J-Boats J/22 | 22.5' | $ 10,000 | 10 | 4 |
| Gib'Sea 242 | 23.13' | $ 6,981 | 9 | 4 |