Transpac 49 Buyer's Guide
Shopping a used Transpac 49 on the brokerage market means taking on a 48.5-foot Taiwanese-built ketch from Transpacific Marine Ltd., designed by George Duke. These are heavy offshore cruisers — 39,000 pounds displacement, lead long keel, six-foot draft — and the used fleet reflects boats that have spent decades as private passagemakers rather than day-sailers. A buyer should approach each hull as a systems-and-structure audit, not a cosmetic purchase.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Transpac 49 was built on a single long-keel ketch platform, so layout variation between hulls is a matter of owner refit rather than factory models. The defining constraint is the roughly six-foot draft, which limits where these boats can be berthed and shapes the kind of cruising their sellers historically pursued anchor. Internally, the 400-gallon water and 150-gallon fuel capacities point to a boat planned for self-sufficient living, and any used example should be judged on whether those original tanks and their plumbing survive intact.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, solar panels, inverters, furling mains, electric winches, freezers, hot water, dinghy davits, autopilots, and chartplotters are commonly fitted to Transpac 49s, reflecting the bluewater retrofit norm for a boat of this size. For a buyer, the consequential clusters are power and energy — solar and inverter combinations that determine whether house loads run without the 120-horsepower Ford Lehman diesel — and sail handling, where furling main and electric winches materially reduce the effort of managing a 1,050-square-foot ketch rig. Navigation and comfort items like chartplotter, autopilot, freezer, and hot water speak to how turnkey the boat is for passage life.
What to Inspect
The Transpac 49 has no known structural, rigging, or systems defects, so a buyer's inspection centers on verifying the boat's inherent design constraints. Confirm the draft measurement at the specific load condition, since the keel draws between 6.0 and 6.3 feet depending on burden, and a heavily provisioned example may not fit a stated marina depth. Check the original fiberglass hull for repair quality and the lead keel bond, as these are the structural substrates whose condition governs long-term viability. Verify the Ford Lehman diesel's service history and the ketch rigging, including the 5/8-inch sheets specified for the rig, since aged running rigging is a routine replacement on a boat of this age.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Transpac 49s typically appear in the United States and Australia. A short buyer checklist:
- Confirm actual draft under your load against marina limits.
- Survey the solid hull and lead keel bond for prior repairs.
- Verify diesel hours and ketch rigging condition.
- Test the commonly fitted solar, inverter, and furling systems.
- Check original 400-gallon water and 150-gallon fuel tank integrity.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Transpac 49. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 1 row
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26 | 1 | $161,395 | — |
Where they're listed
Transpac 49 listings appear across 1 country. Australia has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | $161,395 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
9 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hylas 49 | 48.88' | $ 419,000 | 38 | 6 |
| Hallberg-Rassy 49 | 49.08' | $ 243,660 | 34 | 8 |
| Taswell 49 | 48.83' | $ 175,000 | 31 | 3 |
| Hardin 44/45 | 44.5' | $ 62,500 | 15 | 1 |
| Formosa 47 | 46.42' | $ 110,802 | 14 | 7 |
| Oyster Yachts 49 | 51.83' | $ 384,176 | 12 | 0 |
| Gulfstar 50 Kth | 50' | $ 62,400 | 8 | 5 |
| Atlantic 49 | 49' | $ 58,264 | 7 | 3 |
| Transpac 49You are here | — | $ 161,395 | 1 | 0 |