Nauticat 385 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a used Nauticat 385 means looking at a Finnish-built Gustafsson design from the mid-2000s, a 38-foot masthead-sloop cruiser with a CE Class A Ocean rating and a documented brief for extended offshore voyages. These are not weekend harbour boats; the used examples afloat were built to a standard that accepts wind force 8 and four-metre seas as normal operating conditions, which shapes both what you should expect in equipment and what you should inspect before committing.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin arrangements are the more common configuration on the resale market, though both layout types appear, and ex-charter boats are a common sight among listings. Either way the boat carries 4+2 berths and above-average headroom, with a 500-litre fresh water tank that supports longer independent cruising. The solid fibreglass hull below the sheerline keeps structural surveys straightforward compared with older cored hulls, and the fin keel draws about six feet loaded — worth confirming against your intended berths.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Most boats you will look at carry a strong offshore-tagged inventory. Commonly fitted are heating, bow thruster, radar, AIS, autopilot, chartplotter, electric winches, bimini, cockpit shower, swim platform, teak decks, and a furling main, with gennaker or asymmetric spinnaker often among the sail inventory. That cluster means a buyer can expect push-button anchoring and short-handed sail handling as standard rather than rare finds. Often seen are an inverter and a dodger, rounding out the electrical and cockpit-weather basics. Less common — and best treated as a specific owner upgrade to verify in person — are watermaker, air conditioning, solar, freezer, hot water, washing machine, and life raft; none should be assumed present.
What to Inspect
The CE Class A Ocean certification is the key offshore credential and should be confirmed on the build plate certified as Class A. OCEAN. Because the hull is solid fibreglass with only minimum seasonal maintenance needs, survey focus should stay on keel-to-hull bonding and the fin-keel attachment rather than core saturation minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. The ballast ratio of 32% is low against peers, so confirm the lead keel is intact and unmodified. A standard marine survey remains the buyer's primary protection.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The typical markets where these boats are found are Italy and Finland. For a shopper, the practical checklist is: confirm CE Class A documentation, verify the three-cabin or alternative layout matches your plans, check that commonly fitted gear (bow thruster, autopilot, electric winches) is present and working, treat watermaker or air conditioning as possible upgrades rather than standard, and have a surveyor inspect the solid hull and fin-keel joint. The 385 rewards the buyer who wants a genuine ocean-rated 38-footer without the complexity of a pilothouse, provided the lightly ballasted hull form suits their sailing grounds.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Nauticat 385. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 1 | $384,562 | — |
| Jan 26 | 3 | $384,562 | 0.0% |
| Apr 26 | 3 | $279,681 | -27.3% |
| Jun 26 | 2 | $279,681 | 0.0% |
| Jul 26 | 1 | $279,681 | 0.0% |
Where they're listed
Nauticat 385 listings appear across 2 countries. Italy has the most listings with 5 (83.3%), followed by Finland.
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
11 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dufour 385 Grand Large | 38.45' | $ 104,875 | 64 | 10 |
| Siltala 38 | 37.5' | $ 110,701 | 59 | 17 |
| Catalina 385 | 39.17' | $ 256,500 | 29 | 8 |
| Pilothouse 42 | 42.65' | $ 268,014 | 21 | 3 |
| Nauticat 35 | 34.92' | $ 105,251 | 18 | 2 |
| Prout 38 | 38' | $ 135,402 | 16 | 2 |
| Fiskars, Turku Boatyard, Turku, Finland 35 | 35' | $ 23,306 | 14 | 1 |
| Pearson 385 | 38.25' | $ 60,000 | 11 | 3 |
| Nauticat 385You are here | — | $ 279,667 | 10 | 3 |
| Cabo Rico 400 | 42' | $ 154,900 | 10 | 5 |
| Broadblue Catamarans 385 | 38.68' | $ 210,000 | 9 | 0 |