Reactor 25 Buyer's Guide
Shopping for a Reactor 25 on the brokerage market means looking at a small, distinctly New Zealand coastal sloop — Paul Whiting's 25-foot fin-keel design, built in about 70 examples between 1968 and 1973. These are boats with a local following rather than a global used fleet, so a buyer is really shopping the New Zealand market for a piece of classic Kiwi sailing.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Reactor 25 is a 25-foot monohull with a solid fiberglass hull and deck, a fin keel, and a spade rudder. At 8.7 feet of beam and a masthead sloop rig, she is a compact coastal racer-cruiser. The available material does not describe interior arrangements, so a buyer should treat each boat as an individual and inspect the cabin at viewing.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The only equipment detail from the technical record is the rigging: jib and genoa sheets of 25 feet at 3/8 inch, a 62.5-foot mainsheet of the same diameter, and 55-foot spinnaker sheets. A buyer should verify that running rigging matches these dimensions and is in serviceable condition, since uniform 3/8-inch sheets are easy to source but worn ones are a negotiation point.
What to Inspect
A survey of a Reactor 25 should follow normal used-boat practice for a 1968–1973 solid fiberglass hull. Pay attention to the fin keel-to-hull joint and the spade rudderpost, as these are the load-bearing structures on a 5,000-pound boat with 2,000 pounds of lead ballast. Confirm the masthead rig's chainplates are dry and well-bedded, and check that the 204-square-foot wetted surface has no unrepaired osmosis or impact damage from the boat's coastal life.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Reactors are found in New Zealand, with the bulk of the fleet in Auckland and others around the Bay of Islands, Cook Strait, and Canterbury. For a buyer, the practical steps are:
- Inspect the fin keel and spade rudder for structural soundness
- Check chainplate bedding and masthead rig alignment
- Verify sheet sizes: 25 ft jib/genoa, 62.5 ft mainsheet, 55 ft spinnaker
- Confirm no unrepaired hull blistering on the 204 sq ft wetted surface
- Trace the individual hull's local ownership history through the class association
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Reactor 25. 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26 | 2 | $2,860 | — |
Where they're listed
Reactor 25 listings appear across 1 country. New Zealand has the most listings with 2.
Country view
2 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | $2,860 | 2 | 2 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberts 25 | 25' | $ 8,495 | 9 | 1 |
| Whiting 25You are here | — | $ 2,860 | 2 | 2 |