Wauquiez Hood 38 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used market for a Wauquiez Hood 38 means looking at one of 179 ballasted centerboarders built between 1978 and 1989, offered only as Mk I or Mk II with the same hull and differing solely in interior accommodations. The lifting centerboard, teak-filled volume, and Ted Hood pedigree make the type attractive to cruisers who want shallow gunkholing and offshore grip in one package, but the buyer's work is in reading condition and equipment across a now-middle-aged fleet.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every Hood 38 shares the identical carène, so the choice between Mk I and Mk II is purely an interior question — the builder changed only the accommodations between versions. Both retain the profuse teak and the perhaps-class-leading interior volume for a boat of this type, with the centerboard enabling comfortable cruising from cove to cove. A buyer should evaluate which interior arrangement suits liveaboard or passage plans, since no structural or hull-layout variation exists to weigh.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used Wauquiez Hood 38s, solar, autopilot, chartplotter, bimini, radar, heating, wind generator, AIS, and life raft are commonly fitted. Air conditioning and spinnaker are often seen, with dodger also frequent. Watermaker, inverter, asymmetric spinnaker, hot water, and EPIRB fall into the sometimes-or-owner-upgrade category. One documented refit example ran a simple heading-based autopilot with no wind instruments networked, showing that minimal navigation setups are viable; that same unit worked flawlessly after roughly 8,000 miles offshore and more inshore once a fuse issue was resolved.
What to Inspect
The documented known issues are narrow but worth checking. An autopilot can blow its in-line fuse at the drive unit when overpowered, mostly off the wind in big seas; verify the fuse rating was set per the manual's guidance. More broadly, thru-hulls on these 1978–1989 hulls were not always replaced in refit but should be thoroughly inspected, as age alone warrants it. No hull or structural defects are recorded, and the solid fiberglass hull and deck are background positives rather than inspection flags.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Typical markets for the Hood 38 include the United States, United Kingdom, Greece, France, Germany, and Spain. For the buyer, the short checklist is: confirm Mk version and interior fit; inspect all thru-hulls regardless of refit history; test the autopilot under load or confirm fuse upgrade; verify which of the commonly fitted systems (solar, autopilot, chartplotter, AIS, life raft) are present versus owner upgrades. The boat remains a robust, fast, elegant centerboard cruiser with a finite but adequate used supply.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Wauquiez Hood 38. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 8 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 25 | 2 | $ 62,400 | — |
| Sep 25 | 3 | $ 68,556 | +9.9% |
| Oct 25 | 1 | $ 66,382 | -3.2% |
| Dec 25 | 2 | $ 42,000 | -36.7% |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $ 67,324 | +60.3% |
| Apr 26 | 6 | $ 51,922 | -22.9% |
| May 26 | 1 | $ 75,000 | +44.4% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 68,671 | -8.4% |
Where they're listed
Wauquiez Hood 38 listings appear across 6 countries. United States has the most listings with 6 (42.9%), followed by France and United Kingdom.
Country view
14 listings · 6 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $ 45,750 | 6 | 1 | 42.9% |
| France | $ 67,940 | 2 | 0 | 14.3% |
| United Kingdom | $ 63,952 | 2 | 0 | 14.3% |
| Greece | $ 64,093 | 2 | 2 | 14.3% |
| Germany | $ 34,335 | 1 | 0 | 7.1% |
| Spain | $ 66,382 | 1 | 0 | 7.1% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
4 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siltala 38 | 37.5' | $ 91,544 | 53 | 18 |
| Bristol 38.8 | 38.25' | $ 62,900 | 16 | 5 |
| Wauquiez Hood 38You are here | — | $ 59,503 | 15 | 4 |
| Nicholson 38 | 37.83' | $ 33,698 | 13 | 7 |