Ta Chiao CT-54 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

Charter four-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both owner and charter versions are available, and ex-charter examples are common. The charter version carries a very large cockpit with low combings and long seating comfortable for lying down, while the owner version has a smaller cockpit with high combings where the benches are difficult to lie on. Most boats show four staterooms with port and starboard berths aft of the saloon; the forwardmost is usually a V-berth with a guest head and shower port, and the aftmost stateroom holds an island queen or athwartship king with a separate stall shower. Some examples place the galley starboard with a portside dinette forward of the saloon, but on most others those are aft of the saloon. No two interiors are alike, and the raised saloon has settees port and starboard.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

On the used market these boats commonly carry furling main, heating, freezer, hot water, autopilot, air conditioning, inverter, bow thruster, washing machine, bimini, dodger, radar, chartplotter, starlink, and life raft. Often seen are solar, self-tacking jib, spinnaker, electric winches, hardtop, swim platform, dinghy davits, teak decks, and epirb. The CT-54 generally has a 120 or 135 HP Ford Lehman under the saloon, with rare Perkins diesel versions, and the wide teak bowsprit is easy to mount. The primary winches vary in location and size, mounted outside the cockpit on stainless flanges or on the combing top.

What to Inspect

The early model cabintrunks are commonly rotten, and the deck and cabintrunks on 1975-to-1981 boats are prone to leaks and rot, the so-called leaky teaky construction with mitered edge pieces and black caulking. The 1981 deck upgrade to a plywood-cored sandwich fixed those leaks, so confirming the build year matters. The spruce spars and mast step should be checked for rot, and any original stainless steel from 1970s Taiwan is suspect and prone to pitting. The rudder is a hollow unit that ships water, a common problem usually addressed by drilling and filling with PVC foam. Black iron tanks last about 20 years and should be expected to be replaced if not already; the forward fuel tank requires removing the forward bulkhead and sawing it out.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

These boats typically appear in Cabo Verde, Spain, United States, Germany, and French Polynesia. For a buyer, the checklist is short but non-negotiable: confirm whether the example is pre- or post-1981 deck; inspect cabintrunk and deck core for rot; sound the rudder for water and check any PVC foam mod; test original stainless for pitting; verify tank age and replacement; and review the custom interior layout against your liveaboard or charter intent.