Maxi 87 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used Maxi 87 means stepping into the early Petterson era of the Swedish brand: a 28-foot fiberglass masthead sloop built from 1975 through 1982, with 449 examples produced. These are boats now decades into their lives, so the right questions are about condition and period equipment rather than model-year spreads or production totals.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every Maxi 87 shares the same Petterson hull and fin-keel configuration, with a teak interior and above-average headroom for a 28-foot boat. The single Volvo Penta MD7A diesel with saildrive defines the mechanical layout, and the 11-gallon fuel and 24-gallon water tanks set the practical cruising envelope. There is no separate generation or revised layout to choose between within the production run, so buyer attention turns to upkeep of the original plan rather than variant selection.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Cabin heating is a commonly fitted option on British-market boats, worth confirming in person since it affects winter usability and survey of fuel lines or flues. Beyond that, the available records leave little to enumerate; most other gear will be owner-fitted over the years. A buyer should focus less on stereos or dishes and more on whether the saildrive seals, rigging, and tankage have been maintained, since those carry real consequence on a 1970s build.
What to Inspect
The 13 hp Volvo Penta MD7A drives through a saildrive transmission, a period arrangement whose seals and diaphragm demand close inspection for weeping or corrosion. The iron fin keel should be checked for rusting at the hull joint and any prior ballast repair. The solid fiberglass hull and deck are straightforward to survey for osmosis or impact damage, but the 26 square meters of wetted surface means a full bottom assessment is not trivial.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The typical market for the Maxi 87 is the United Kingdom. For a shopper there, the shortlist is:
- Confirm the saildrive integrity and diesel service history
- Inspect the iron keel-hull interface for corrosion
- Verify any fitted heating system is safe and documented
- Check rigging against the original 26-meter halyard and 21.8-meter mainsheet lengths
- Budget for period-correct spares given the MD7A and 1970s systems
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Maxi 87. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26 | 1 | $13,588 | — |
Where they're listed
Maxi 87 listings appear across 1 country. United Kingdom has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $13,588 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.