Trident 24 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used Trident 24 means looking at a 24-foot Alan F. Hill cruiser built from 1960 to 1980 in numbers around 250, with the great majority in triple-keel form. She is a glassfibre boat with a strongly stayed fractional rig and a reputation among brokers as a proper little yacht, and the used fleet ranges from all-fibreglass examples to a small number of wood-decked or owner-finished hybrids.
Layouts on the Used Market
The standard Trident 24 is a solid-fibreglass hull with a roomy cockpit that drains itself, generous side decks, and stowage space well beyond the norm for 24 feet — a layout that testers found among the most comfortable in the small-yacht class. A buyer will also encounter the first few boats that left the factory with professionally fitted wooden decks and coach roofs over the GRP hull, plus a few hulls that owners bought bare and finished in wood, leaving roughly twenty wood-and-glass hybrids in total. The original sail or hull number is the best guide to a specific boat's age and which camp it falls into.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Most boats began life with a Vire 6 or 7 hp two-stroke petrol engine, but the majority have since been repowered, and the compact Yanmar 9 hp diesel has been a particularly popular replacement. Beyond propulsion, no citable owner-fitted equipment tiers exist for this fleet, so a buyer should simply confirm what power unit sits in the boat.
What to Inspect
The one documented divergence from standard construction is the wooden deck and coach-roof work on the earliest boats and the owner-finished hybrids. On any candidate, look closely at the timber-to-fibreglass joints along the coach roof and deck edges for softness, staining, or cracked caulking, and probe the wood with a screwdriver for rot where it meets the hull flange. A musty smell below or dark streaks on the interior linings signal past leaks through those seams. Because these are the only boats with non-glass structure, an all-fibreglass example avoids this check entirely. Separately, confirm the installed engine: most Vire units are gone, so verify mounting security, cooling lines, and exhaust on whatever replacement — often a Yanmar 9 hp diesel — is fitted.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The typical market for these boats is the United Kingdom. Before committing, run through a short checklist:
- Confirm hull number against build era and keel type.
- Check wooden deck seams for rot on early or hybrid boats.
- Verify the repowered engine mounting and cooling.
- Test handling under power forward and in reverse.
- Inspect the twin-lower rig and halyard condition.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Trident 24. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 2 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 1 | $2,702 | — |
| May 26 | 1 | $7,062 | +161.4% |
Where they're listed
Trident 24 listings appear across 1 country. United Kingdom has the most listings with 2.
Country view
2 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $4,882 | 2 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
3 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornish Crabbers 24 Mk I | 29.25' | $ 44,780 | 28 | 9 |
| Pacific Seacraft Dana 24 | 27.25' | $ 75,000 | 26 | 7 |
| Trident Marine 24You are here | — | $ 4,882 | 2 | 0 |