Pearson 365 Buyer's Guide
Shopping a used Pearson 365 on the brokerage market means considering a Bill Shaw–designed ketch built between 1976 and 1982, with around 405 examples produced. Most are masthead ketches with a shoal fin keel and skeg rudder, though a few sloops or cutters appear. The cored deck, screw-fastened joints, and steel tank and mast step are the items that separate a sound buy from a money pit, so the below focuses on what to verify rather than on paper specifications.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available; ex-charter examples are common. Either way the saloon has a nav station and twin settees, a forward V-berth cabin, an aft U-galley near the 8-foot cockpit, and a head with a separate enclosed shower. Wide decks and bulwarks make the boat easy to move around, and two cockpit lockers provide bulk storage.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Commonly fitted canvas and electronics include a bimini, dodger, and chartplotter. Often seen on boats are solar panels, hot water, radar, autopilot, inverter, and dinghy davits — the davits and solar matter most to a cruiser who wants independent power and easy tender handling. A cockpit shower and EPIRB are less common, appearing as owner upgrades. For passage work, the autopilot and radar are the consequential items; the rest are comfort and convenience.
What to Inspect
The deck is balsa-cored, so delamination from water infiltration is always a possibility, and the hatches can get spongy while portals lose their watertightness hatches and portals degrade with water. Several owners have found fault with portals and hatches installed using screws rather than bolts, a recurring theme on this model. Cockpit lockers have been reported to leak, and the two cockpit drains are relatively small, with some owners adding or enlarging them. At the mast, the steel step plate to the keel corrodes from standing seawater and can rot the aluminum mast bottom mast step corrodes from standing water; the 50-gallon steel fuel tank also rusts and weakens, and both may need replacement. Engine access is cumbersome, complicating any survey of the marinized Westerbeke diesel.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats turn up in the United States and Australia. For a buyer, the short list is: check the cored deck and screw-fastened hatches for softness or leaks; confirm the mast step and steel fuel tank condition; verify cockpit drain size and locker sealing; assess engine access for serviceability; and prefer an example with autopilot, solar, and davits already fitted for cruising.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Pearson 365. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 8 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | 1 | $29,000 | — |
| Oct 25 | 3 | $29,500 | +1.7% |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $39,500 | +33.9% |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $29,500 | -25.3% |
| Mar 26 | 2 | $28,250 | -4.2% |
| Apr 26 | 2 | $41,372 | +46.4% |
| May 26 | 2 | $25,000 | -39.6% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $10,000 | -60.0% |
Where they're listed
Pearson 365 listings appear across 2 countries. United States has the most listings with 10 (90.9%), followed by Australia.
Country view
11 listings · 2 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $28,250 | 10 | 1 | 90.9% |
| Australia | $53,743 | 1 | 0 | 9.1% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
7 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dufour 365 Grand Large | 35.47' | $ 88,361 | 37 | 9 |
| Pilothouse 365 Ketch | 36.42' | $ 32,500 | 30 | 8 |
| Dufour 35 | 35.25' | $ 30,000 | 26 | 1 |
| Pearson 35 | 35' | $ 19,000 | 17 | 7 |
| Pearson 365You are here | — | $ 29,000 | 12 | 1 |
| Custom 35 | 35.25' | $ 27,967 | 10 | 5 |
| Dean Catamarans 365 | 36.75' | $ 87,396 | 9 | 3 |