It’s impossible....

[nicho]

.....to find a decent £50/60k, 35/36’ BenJenBav or similar sailing boat at present. Looks like it will have to wait until Autumn or New Year

 

[TernVI]

Time of year.
Most people who wanted to sell one would have got it on the market in the Autumn or Winter, if it was a good buy it would be gone.
A big proportion of boats which change hands need at least a little work, so sensible people trade up over the winter, which means the market is most active at the end of Summer.
Even selling a perfect boat, the process can take 6 weeks or more.

There's not even a lot of Laser dinghies on sale at the moment.
Historically, a lot of dinghies change hands after the nationals or some other campaign, people work up to a major regatta over a season, then look at moving on to the next project/level/class. I think this 'all change in the autumn' effect feeds hrough to cruisers too?

Not sure what the covid influence really is, a lot of people just haven't wanted to be dealling with random members of the public, the market for all sorts of things has been weird. Also 'new' stuff has been delayed die to various shortages. Things will take time to get back to normal. Brexit and covid have reduced imports of some things for sure.

 

[nicho]

Time of year.
Most people who wanted to sell one would have got it on the market in the Autumn or Winter, if it was a good buy it would be gone.
A big proportion of boats which change hands need at least a little work, so sensible people trade up over the winter, which means the market is most active at the end of Summer.
Even selling a perfect boat, the process can take 6 weeks or more.

There's not even a lot of Laser dinghies on sale at the moment.
Historically, a lot of dinghies change hands after the nationals or some other campaign, people work up to a major regatta over a season, then look at moving on to the next project/level/class. I think this 'all change in the autumn' effect feeds hrough to cruisers too?

Not sure what the covid influence really is, a lot of people just haven't wanted to be dealling with random members of the public, the market for all sorts of things has been weird. Also 'new' stuff has been delayed die to various shortages. Things will take time to get back to normal. Brexit and covid have reduced imports of some things for sure.

Thanks, my thoughts too - looks like we will not be sailing this Summer!

 

[Daydream believer]

There's not even a lot of Laser dinghies on sale at the moment.

Had a buyer for my Phantom dinghy in just under 1 hour from going on the forum. Buyer collected the following Sunday, No quibble.

 

[Tranona]

Don't think that really holds water in more "normal" times. While there may be a small fluctuation in the number of boats on the market according to season, typically boats would take anything up to 9 or 12 months to sell.

This year has been unique as in few boats on the market since last summer, very little activity over the winter because of restrictions and the few good boats were often selling sight unseen. Now increased demand because of relaxation and owners wanting to use their boats means no decent boats for sale.

In my view this will continue for some time because new boat sales for the UK market will drop (have you seen the prices) and supplies from the EU have dried up because of the cost of imports of used boats.

 

[nicho]

Update. We have decided to sell a property (cannot do it before November) and release some extra funds to get something newer - Ben/Jen/Bav/Hanse 35/36’ etc and start serious looking over winter for 2022 season. Hope some decent boats finally hit the market at the back end of this year.

 

[seumask]

A little luck, speed and knowing what you are looking for solved the equation for us.
We thought having sold our boat in December to upgrade from 32 to 35-38ft we would be waiting a year in the current market. However a mixture of reviewing the regular sites every morning ( "Apollo duck "," Yachtworld" and " the Yacht market") and being able to react quickly meant we were able to catch one of the few decent boats that came up this year in our area. The boat was on the web for less than 3 hours before I saw it and rang the agent ( who I'd spoken to about other boats before) and so we got to see it first later the same day. An offer was made and accepted and we are now owners of a boat very close to the OP's target category.
It really helped having watched the market and spoken to 10 or so brokers in our area. We had been to see another boat that we were first to a month earlier but I felt was very over priced, and having all this under my belt I felt I was happy, I knew the market hence was able to spot a sensible asking price which we offered subject to survey and engine test.
Don't give up, but be aware of what is needed to get first in the que!

 

[[3889]]

Am also looking for similarish boat with similar lack of success. Don't think it's particularly an importation issue as the same problem exists in the EU where I would be prepared to buy.