Tahiti Ketch Sailboats for Sale

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull Type

Monohull · long

Rig

Ketch

LOA

30' · 9.14 m

Disp.

18,000 lbs · 8,165 kg

First year

1928

Designed by the iconoclastic John Hanna in 1923, the Tahiti Ketch is perhaps the most significant "shoestring" cruiser in maritime history. Originally drawn under the name Neptune for a Texas dentist, the design gained global fame when it was republished in the 1935 edition of Mechanix Illustrated (then Modern Mechanix) as the "Tahiti," a 30foot deepsea auxiliary cruiser. Hanna, an outspoken critic of the thinskinned racing yachts of the era, intended for the boat to be built by amateurs in backyards during the Great Depression. The design was heavily influenced by the Greek sponge boats of Tarpon Springs and the Norwegian pilot boats of Colin Archer, resulting in a doubleended hull that prioritizes survival over speed. This "poor man’s yacht" promised—and delivered—a vessel that could take a sailor around the world with minimal investment.