Pearson 24 Buyer's Guide
The Pearson 24 is a William Harold Shaw-designed small sailboat built by Pearson Yachts across the 1968 and 1969 model years, intended as a budget-minded family racer-cruiser. On the used market she appears as a compact masthead sloop with a long keel and solid fiberglass hull, a two-season production boat whose brief life means any example carries the same basic specification. Buyers shopping the brokerage market are looking at a 23.5-foot design with an 18.5-foot waterline and a 4-foot draft that can enter shallow marinas, mated to a racing hull built around beamier interior comfort.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every Pearson 24 on the market derives from the same late-sixties Shaw drawing, so there is no generation split to navigate. The constant is a long-keel masthead sloop with solid fiberglass construction and a beamier interior than a pure racer would carry, built for the family that wanted to race, day-sail, or cruise. Because production ran only through 1968 and 1969, a buyer is choosing among preservation states rather than layout variants.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The rig specifies 20.9-meter halyards at 8 mm for mainsail, jib-genoa, and spinnaker, with 10 mm sheets for jib, genoa, mainsheet, and spinnaker. A buyer should confirm the running rigging matches these lengths and diameters, since a shortened or oversized halyard is a sign of prior modification. Beyond the standing specification, the used fleet may show owner-fitted canvas, upgraded winches, or replaced line inventories, but the consequential items to verify are the original halyard and sheet dimensions and the integrity of the long-keel hull-to-deck structure.
What to Inspect
Her hull is solid fiberglass with a long keel, and the wetted surface is about 161 square feet, so a survey should focus on the solid fiberglass hull condition and the long-keel attachment for any history of grounding damage. The masthead rig's halyards and sheets should be measured against the 20.9-meter and 7.2-meter standards respectively to catch undocumented substitutions.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The Pearson 24 is a narrowly produced two-year model. A shopper should treat any example as a fixed-spec Shaw Pearson needing confirmation of original rig dimensions and hull integrity.
- Verify 20.9 m / 8 mm halyards and 7.2 m / 10 mm sheets are present or properly upgraded
- Inspect solid fiberglass hull and long-keel joint for grounding or repair history
- Confirm 4-foot draft and beamier interior layout match the racing-comfort brief
- Expect a small, single-generation fleet from 1968–1969 with no layout alternatives to compare
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Pearson 24. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 1 | $3,000 | — |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $3,000 | 0.0% |
Where they're listed
Pearson 24 listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 2.
Country view
2 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $3,000 | 2 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
2 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson 26 | 26.12' | $ 6,000 | 9 | 5 |
| Pearson 24You are here | — | $ 3,000 | 2 | 0 |