Cape Dory 33vsCatalina Yachts 38
Cape Dory against Catalina Yachts · used asking prices, listed in the US
At the same age, the Catalina Yachts 38 and the Cape Dory 33 show no settled difference: pooled across the shared build years the Catalina Yachts 38 asks about the same as the Cape Dory 33, but each year's Gauge Estimate points the other way. We can't yet say which holds its value better: the Cape Dory 33 has no published depreciation curve.
same age · 3 shared build years · 8 and 9 boats in them · Indicative · in today’s prices · asking, not sold
Head to head
The better figure on each line is in orange. Where either side has too few boats, we say so rather than pick a winner.
Year by year
Each build year's Gauge Estimate, for the 3 years both have boats in. Pooled across those years (8 and 9 boats), the Catalina Yachts 38 asks about the same as the Cape Dory 33. Taken together, the estimates below point another way: each draws on boats built up to three years either side, while the same-age figure pairs boats of exactly the same build year, and with this few boats the two can differ. Read the same-age figure as Indicative, not settled.
What your budget buys
At £23,500, only the Catalina Yachts 38 has a build year within reach.
A year of ownership
Each at its Gauge Value, on a South Coast marina berth, 44 engine hours a year (the median of 103 UK-listed sailing boats that report hours). An estimate in pounds from published rates, not a quote.
Each line is the middle of the cited range, to the nearest fifty pounds. Depreciation is a year of age on each model's published curve, at its Gauge Value, and stays out of the totals.
The Cape Dory 33 has no published depreciation curve, so its depreciation is withheld.
Sources: Lake Yard price list 2026 · BerthFinder · Boatsetter · Velos Insurance; Admiral Yacht Insurance · Boating Magazine, "Calculating Boat Fuel Consumption" · Littlehampton Marina fuel prices
Specification
Questions
Which is cheaper, the Cape Dory 33 or the Catalina Yachts 38?
There is no settled difference at the same age. Pooled across 3 shared build years the Catalina Yachts 38 asks about the same as the Cape Dory 33, but year by year our Gauge Estimates point the other way, so read the same-age figure as Indicative, not settled. Their Gauge Values, the median asking prices of all the boats we observed whatever their age, are £24,500 and £22,500.
Which holds its value better?
We can't say yet. The Catalina Yachts 38 loses about 4.1% of its asking price a year of age, but the Cape Dory 33 has no published depreciation curve: we fit one from at least 20 boats across six build years and publish it only when the fit holds. We have 10 Cape Dory 33 boats across 5 build years.
Which spends less time on the market?
Boats of the Catalina Yachts 38 had been listed a median of 113 days when we last saw them; too few Cape Dory 33 boats were seen on two dates to say. That is time listed so far, not time to sell, which we don't measure yet. 57% of the Catalina Yachts 38 boats we saw 14 or more days apart cut their asking price; too few Cape Dory 33 boats were seen that far apart to say.
How do you compare them like for like?
We compare boats of the same build year. For each of the 3 years both models have boats in, we take the ratio of their median asking prices in today's prices, then pool the years, giving more weight to years with more boats on both sides. The figure is Indicative because the thinner side has 8 boats in those years. The Gauge Values compare the whole fleets instead, so they mix boats of different ages.