Sunward 48 Sailboats for Sale & Market Overview

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull type

Monohull · full

Rig

Ketch

LOA

48' · 14.63 m

Displ.

50,000 lbs · 22,680 kg

First year

1978

The Sunward 48 is a robust, heavydisplacement bluewater 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 passagemaker for sailors prioritizing seakindliness and selfsufficiency 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 clipperlike bow, and a wellprotected 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.