Northstar 80/20 Buyer's Guide
The Northstar 80/20 on the used market is a 40-foot Sparkman & Stephens cruising ketch from the 1973 design 2134 family, built by North Star Yachts in Canada. These centre-cockpit fiberglass boats have circulated through charter and private ownership for decades, and a shopper today meets a mature design with a clear layout lineage rather than a mystery custom.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin arrangements are the more common find among brokerage boats, though both layout forms appear. Ex-charter examples are common. The standard plan gives a bow double V-berth, three settee berths in the main cabin, and an aft double V-berth, with two starboard heads and a U-shaped galley just forward of the companionway.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Solar, spinnaker, and bimini are commonly fitted on these boats, speaking to how owners have adapted them for warm-climate cruising and downwind passage work. For a buyer, the practical clusters are power and energy — solar addressing house loads on a 180-gallon-water hull — and sail handling and shade, where a spinnaker supports light-air tradewind runs and a bimini makes the centre cockpit livable. Beyond those, expect the standard 52-horsepower Westerbeke diesel and a masthead ketch rig that may carry any of several jib or genoa sizes.
What to Inspect
The 80/20 is built of solid fiberglass with wood trim, a fixed fin keel, and a skeg-mounted rudder steered by wheel. A buyer should look closely at the wood trim for age-related degradation and confirm the skeg rudder's attachment and the fin keel union with the hull, since those are the structural interfaces the original build defines. The 75-gallon fuel and 180-gallon water tanks should be checked for internal condition given the boat's age.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats typically appear in Mexico and Greece. For a shopper, the short list is: confirm three-cabin layout and ex-charter history; verify solar, spinnaker, and bimini are present and serviceable; inspect wood trim, skeg rudder, and fin keel joint; test the Westerbeke 4-154 and tank integrity. The 80/20 rewards a careful survey with a roomy, ballast-steady cruiser of proven parentage.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Northstar 80/20. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25 | 1 | $60,000 | — |
| May 26 | 1 | $40,588 | -32.4% |
Where they're listed
Northstar 80/20 listings appear across 1 country. Greece has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | $40,588 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
4 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hughes 40 | 40' | $ 69,900 | 17 | 0 |
| Gulfstar 44 Kth | 44.67' | $ 44,500 | 12 | 0 |
| Gulfstar 50 Kth | 50' | $ 62,400 | 8 | 5 |
| Sparkman & Stephens 80/20You are here | — | $ 40,588 | 1 | 0 |