Saare 38 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used Saare 38 means looking at a low-volume Baltic cruiser whose earliest hulls were sold on drawings to Finnish owners before German delivery began. Most boats were collected by their owners at the Kuressaare yard and sailed west, so a used example often carries a short delivery passage rather than ocean miles. For the buyer, the appeal is a classic Scandinavian 38-foot cruiser that rejects wide transoms and twin rudders in favor of a single spade rudder and a hull that stays balanced when heeled.
Layouts on the Used Market
The 38.2 can be found in two configurations. A strictly owner-only version fits just the forward cabin — a V-berth about 205 centimeters long, narrowing to 90 centimeters at the foot and widening to 200 at the shoulder. The alternative adds a portside guest cabin aft of the chart table, with the walk-in locker still accessed from the galley. Either way the saloon keeps two-meter settees and a proper forward-facing heads with a separable shower. Early boats were all Khaya mahogany; later ones may show light oak, some horizontally grained, and a few carry synthetic decking rather than teak.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
A used 38 will commonly show a fixed windscreen, a Solbian solar panel, inverter, lithium banks, and NMEA 2000 networking as factory or dealer fit. Often-seen electric winches and a flush skylight pair with the mainsheet arch for push-button sailing. Less common owner additions include a watermaker, air conditioning, or a life raft. For the buyer, the meaningful clusters are power — solar, inverter, and lithium mean independent anchoring — and sail handling, where electric winches and a furling main reduce crew load; navigation is covered by chartplotter, radar, and AIS, while comfort rests on heating, hot water, and the cockpit shower.
What to Inspect
Verify whether a boat is mahogany or oak and whether decking is teak or synthetic, since later finishes differ from the all-wood interior of early boats. Confirm the Divinycell-cored hull and deck are intact and that the vacuum-infusion build of 38.2 examples shows no delamination. Check the fixed windscreen seals and the high coamings for leaks, and exercise the oversized winches and rollers to confirm single-handed sailing remains easy.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Typical markets are Germany and Finland. The Saare 38 adheres to fundamental principles that do not date, so a buyer’s short checklist is: confirm layout (owner-only vs guest cabin), verify joinery and decking generation, test the single-handed deck gear, and validate the solar-inverter-lithium energy chain. Choose the steadier Baltic hull over a trend-driven wide-stern design if long cruising is the aim.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Saare 38. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 3 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26 | 1 | $266,672 | — |
| Jun 26 | 3 | $266,672 | 0.0% |
| Jul 26 | 1 | $266,672 | 0.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
6 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dehler 38 | 38.71' | $ 244,547 | 50 | 16 |
| Sabre 38 | 37.83' | $ 49,999 | 49 | 17 |
| X-Yachts Xc XC 38 | 37.99' | $ 328,973 | 14 | 5 |
| Northshore 38 | 37.99' | $ 51,949 | 11 | 5 |
| Baltic 38 DP | 38.08' | $ 108,000 | 9 | 3 |
| Saare 38You are here | — | $ 266,672 | 5 | 4 |