Catalina 42vsIsland Packet 38
Catalina Yachts against Island Packet · used asking prices, listed in the US
At the same age, the Island Packet 38 asks 53% more than the Catalina 42; on the headline Gauge Values it asks 32% more, which mixes ages: its boats are older (median build year 1989 against 1990). The Catalina 42 holds its value a little better (5.1% a year of age, against 5.6%).
same age · 5 shared build years · 23 and 14 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 5 years both have boats in. Pooled across those years (23 and 14 boats), the Island Packet 38 asks 53% more than the Catalina 42.
What your budget buys
At £70,000 your money buys 6 years newer in the Catalina 42: a 1992 against a 1986.
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 totals differ by less than the two berth bands do, so neither is marked cheaper to keep.
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 Catalina 42 or the Island Packet 38?
At the same age the Catalina 42 is cheaper: the Island Packet 38 asks 53% more than the Catalina 42 across 5 shared build years. Their Gauge Values, the median asking prices of all the boats we observed whatever their age, are £59,500 and £78,500.
Which holds its value better?
The Catalina 42: it loses about 5.1% of its asking price a year of age, against 5.6% for the Island Packet 38. Both rates come from each model's published depreciation curve.
Which spends less time on the market?
Boats of the Catalina 42 had been listed a median of 33 days when we last saw them, against 148 days for the Island Packet 38. That is time listed so far, not time to sell, which we don't measure yet. 20% of the Catalina 42 boats we saw 14 or more days apart cut their asking price, against 17% of the Island Packet 38 boats.
How do you compare them like for like?
We compare boats of the same build year. For each of the 5 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 14 boats in those years. The Gauge Values compare the whole fleets instead, so they mix boats of different ages.