Wow, has the bottom dropped out of the market?

[jameswilson29]

Lately, the supply of used sailboats in the Chesapeake area seems to have increased substantially.

Two examples of unbelievably low values on eBay:

'82 C&C 38 for $45,000

Cruising sloop, 30 HP aux diesel, Annapolis, MD | eBay

'86 Farr 37 for $45,000

Farr 37 Racer/Cruiser Complete Re-fit | eBay

What is going on here?

[bljones]

I'm scratching my head, too. Up here I have seen two Bayfield 29s advertised for under $8K each, and anything over $20K just plain isn't selling. One of the characters on our dock attended an auction at a boat dealership a couple of weekends ago. 20 boats were up for sale, all with no reserve- A couple of Tanzers, a Grampian 26, Grampian 30, a Northern 25, Oday mariner, a number of others. There were fewer than 20 potential bidders in attendance.
Only 3 boats sold.
In fact only 3 boats got BIDS.
Jack bought two of them. He took home a Mariner and a Northern 25 for under a thousand bucks total.

[hellosailor]

Weak stock market, weak jobs market, weak housing market and (drumroll please)

It's the END OF SEASON in seasonal waters, and no one wants to pay winter storage fees. Especially now.

So I wouldn't be surprised. But I also wouldn't believe everything I see on eBay. Maybe I'm confused (rumour is that has happened at least twice) but last time I heard, the famous C&C 38 cruising sloop was the LANDFALL, and what this guy has is listed as the regular 38, which like most C&C's is a RACER not a CRUISER. With design details like a nice roomy cockpit, for all the racing crew.

Put your own hands and eyes on those boats, in the flesh, before you decide whether they are cheap or dear.

[WDS123]

the market has become bifurcated - older sailboats are being given away, while there is a shortage of newer model brokerage boats.

[chef2sail]

Maybe I'm confused (rumour is that has happened at least twice) but last time I heard, the famous C&C 38 cruising sloop was the LANDFALL, and what this guy has is listed as the regular 38, which like most C&C's is a RACER not a CRUISER. With design details like a nice roomy cockpit, for all the racing crew-Hellsailor

38 C&C is not the Landfalll but regular sloop. The C&C 35 and 38 are racer/ cruisers not just racers. W take ours from the Chesapeake to Long Island / New england every summer for 2+ weeks and she is quite comfortable....and quick. Cockpit is not necessarily set up for racing. The Lanfall setups has the settes up forward

Dave

[RichH]

My local broker and marinas also perceive that many older sailors are no longer sailing ... and there isnt many 'younger folk' getting into sailing because there simply isnt the lower priced 'entry boats' available as was 20-30, etc. years ago.
Sailing has returned to the perception being a strictly rich mans sport - just read any sailing mag for proof. ... and the oldsters continue to 'hang it up'. Just look at your own marina and do a quick sampling of the 'demographics' .... old farts.

Same thing was occurring the skiing industry --- an inevitable decline with mostly oldsters involved ... until snowboards arrived with zillions of young 'riders' attached.

[puddinlegs]

The C&C in the listing is indeed a Landfall. Both look like nice boats. In the case of the Farr, it's tough to sell an IOR design for much more. Unfortunately, deservedly or not, get lumped into the 'IOR boats make bad cruisers' label. The Farr design doesn't suffer from the extremes of the rule at all. Both boats represent good value assuming they survey well.

[Barquito]

Well then... I think it is about time we have a cable TV show about boat flipping. Maybe this is the only market in a generation where that is reasonable. (?)

[peterchech]

Originally Posted by RichH

My local broker and marinas also perceive that many older sailors are no longer sailing ... and there isnt many 'younger folk' getting into sailing because there simply isnt the lower priced 'entry boats' available as was 20-30, etc. years ago.
Sailing has returned to the perception being a strictly rich mans sport - just read any sailing mag for proof. ... and the oldsters continue to 'hang it up'. Just look at your own marina and do a quick sampling of the 'demographics' .... old farts.

Same thing was occurring the skiing industry --- an inevitable decline with mostly oldsters involved ... until snowboards arrived with zillions of young 'riders' attached.

I think if small cuddy cabin multihulls were more widely available, for reasonable prices, a similar "renaissance" would be possible in the cruising world. I know that beach cats are fairly popular with the younger crowd because they are fast, fun and modern. I am in that younger crowd BTW, and although I bought an old hunter 25, I would kill for a used f-22 trimaran instead. I just don't have $30,000 to spend on a sailboat right now.

It should also be noted that the "younger" generation is far less mobile than it was back "in the day". The cost of living is way higher today than it was in the glory days, and income has not kept up. It is tough out there. The "lost generation" that is being talked about is people graduating with a bachelor's degree this year. Almost no prospects at finding a decent job (defined as one that pays enough to pay rent food and school loans), even with a technical degree. And that school debt never goes away. Not to mention the ever increasing cost of higher education. The cost of Rutgers Public University, for example, has risen by about 8% every year for over a decade, yet there has been minimal if any inflation in that same time period. So, massive school debt that never goes away plus few well paying jobs equals NO SAILING...

[peterchech]

Let me add this: it seems that in Australia and New Zealand, the love of sailing is stronger than ever. Is the younger generation over there more into it than here, or is this just a misperception on my part?