• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

The future value of your 30 year old Ericson

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Most of us who own Ericsons, I think, like both the way they sail and the feeling that they were built to high quality standards. That quality did come at a price. The base price on a 1985 E32-3 was around $60K. With options and delivery that could easily go to $85K; pretty pricey considering the median and average home prices in the the US in 1985 were $84K and $101K.

Fast-forward 30 years, and you can still pick up one of these boats in good condition for $25-35K. Go back another ten years, to a 1975-ish model, and maybe you'll pay $12-25K. Great, for now. But what happens in say, 2020 (really only 2 years away) when that middle-aged couple goes looking for their 30 year old Ericson. What happens by 2025? Since almost all of the production boat manufacturers were out of business by 1990 (save Catalina and Hunter), that couple is going to have a lot fewer choices than we've had for the past several decades.

And, what does that do to the used boat market? I don't know. I had a few friends who were into light airplanes in the mid to late 1990s. These guys were picking up Piper Cubs and Cessna 152s and 172s because the prices had come down so low. Maybe ten years later, after Cessna, Beech, and Piper had all gone through bankruptcy and the supply of new light-aircraft dwindled, some of these guys saw the value of their airplanes double or triple.

I'm a long way from recommending sailboats as an investment (unless you'd like to see a bridge I have for sale), but I do think it makes sense to keep these aging vessels in good shape. There won't be another generation of replacement vessels to take their place.
 
Last edited:

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Dunno... what does a Packard go for these days in Havana?

Dunno either. Google shows a classic Packard might fetch $40K-125K in US. Good luck getting a Cuban one through customs. Might try filling the trunk with cigars first.....
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Yes, keeping an Ericson in excellent shape helps sell it. Our best market is knowledgeable buyers who have made the same analysis you have.

A big factor is that we are a cash marketplace. You can't get a boat loan on a 30-year-old boat.

But you can buy a brand new Beneteau for a down payment and monthly contract.
 
Top