Sunward 48 Sailboats for Sale & Market Overview

The Sunward 48 is a robust, heavy-displacement blue-water cruising ketch designed by Al Mason during his tenure at the legendary firm of Sparkman & Stephens. Built by the Sunward Yacht Company in Wilmington, North Carolina, during the 1980s, the vessel was conceived as a premier passage-maker for sailors prioritizing sea-kindliness and self-sufficiency over raw speed. Only approximately 27 of these hulls were produced, making them a rare sight in the brokerage market and highly coveted by traditionalists who appreciate the overbuilt American construction of that era. Characterized by a high freeboard, a traditional clipper-like bow, and a well-protected center cockpit, the Sunward 48 represents the apex of the "gentleman’s cruiser" philosophy, a fact cemented by its most famous patron, the late American news anchor Walter Cronkite, who praised the model’s ability to "lay nicely to a rough sea" in a profile for Yachting Monthly.