Performance Laser 28 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used market for a Performance Laser 28 means looking at a Bruce Farr-designed fractional sloop built in Canada from 1984 to 1990, a boat light enough at 3,950 pounds displacement to feel like a big dinghy with a keel. Because the class was never sold through normal dealerships, every surviving example passed through a tight owner-representative network, and that history still shapes how these boats are found and surveyed today.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Laser 28 is a monohull with a 28.41-foot overall length, 23.58-foot waterline, and 9.48-foot beam, carrying 1,500 pounds of ballast on a 4.98-foot fin keel with an internally mounted spade rudder. The compact dimensions and foam-cored fibreglass hull and deck make for a trailerable-feeling racer-cruiser rather than a voluminous coastal cruiser, so buyers should expect a minimal interior scaled to the boat's racing roots.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
A spinnaker is commonly fitted, consistent with the boat's standard racing inventory that offered kites of 610 and 670 square feet. Power comes from a Bukh 8SME 8.2-horsepower diesel in production boats, while the rare prototype carries a Honda four-stroke gasoline engine on a Volvo saildrive — a configuration a buyer should note if encountered, since parts support differs from the diesel series.
What to Inspect
Production boats delivered with the Bukh 8SME diesel should be checked for engine and saildrive condition, particularly on any prototype retaining its Honda gasoline engine and Volvo drive, as that setup is outside the normal production specification. Verify the hull construction type — early boats were hand-laid while later ones used a closed-mold process — and confirm the foam-cored hull and deck are sound, since the lightweight laminate leaves little margin for neglected impact damage.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The typical market for these boats is Canada, where the owner-representative sales heritage originated. A short checklist for a serious look: confirm diesel vs. gasoline propulsion, inspect the foam core for past trauma, verify the spinnaker and fractional rig are complete, and accept that minimal auxiliary power is by design rather than defect.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Performance Laser 28. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 1 | $28,000 | — |
Where they're listed
Performance Laser 28 listings appear across 1 country. Canada has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $28,000 | 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
2 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-Off 28 | 28.18' | $ 40,755 | 14 | 2 |
| Performance Laser 28You are here | — | $ 28,000 | 1 | 0 |