ShearWater 39 Sailboats for Sale

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull Type

Monohull · fin

Rig

Cutter

LOA

39.37' · 12 m

Disp.

21,605 lbs · 9,800 kg

First year

1990

Designed in the late 1980s and first launched in 1990, the Shearwater 39 represents a pinnacle of what is often referred to as the South African school of offshore yacht design. This approach prioritizes structural robustness and raw seaworthiness over the flatbottomed, highvolume styling that came to dominate European production yachts in the late twentieth century. Commissioned by Gerfried Nebe, the founder of Nebe Boatworks in Hout Bay, South Africa, the design was executed by the renowned naval architect Dudley Dix. Nebe’s brief was highly specific: he wanted a vessel with the classic elegance of traditional cruisers—inspired by the likes of Bruce King and the Cherubini range—but mated to a modern, efficient underbody. Nebe had cruised extensively in a Miura, a legendary but compact South African pocketcruiser, and sought a larger, faster passagemaker that retained the same reassuring, bulletproof behavior in a seaway. The resulting Shearwater 39 features a gorgeous sheerline, a flared clipper bow, a short bowsprit, and a graceful transom with pronounced tumblehome. The interior was finished to a high standard, with rich woods and secure, seakindly accommodation that made it an ideal platform for a cruising couple or a small family intending to cross oceans.