Higher Tariffs on the Horizon – What It Means for Your Next Boat

Used boats might still be a bargain—but the tide is shifting

A new swell is rolling into the boat market—and it’s not from a nor’easter. We're talking tariffs. While I wish this newsletter could be more exciting, sometimes we have to get down to brass tacks.

The tariff landscape keeps changing like New England weather. As Mark Twain once said, "In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours." Similarly, tariffs are on, tariffs are off, tariffs are reduced, tariffs have been increased, doubled, delayed…Ahhhh! Who can keep this all straight?

I just want to go sailing. But let’s try to make sense of it… ​

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⛵️ New Boats Get Pricier. Used Boats Get Hotter.

If tariffs hit foreign-built sailboats (think Bénéteau, Jeanneau, Hanse, Dufour), expect new boat prices to rise significantly. Fewer sailors will be buying new—and instead might start chasing that pristine 1980s Tartan or well-loved Sabres on YachtWorld.

Result?

• Essentially there’s now a baseline 10% tariff on most imported boats; 20% for those coming from the European Union; 145% of those from China. Again, this could change in a hot second.

• Increased demand for clean, well-equipped used sailboats.

• Upward pressure on prices, especially sub-$100k boats.

• HOWEVER, we have not seen this yet. In fact, we’re still seeing prices drop. Our guess is that the overall uncertainty in the markets is keeping folks on the sidelines…for now.

🧰 Refit Realities: When Winches Cost More

Tariffs may also apply to imported boat parts—winches, chartplotters, wind instruments, solar panels, you name it. So if you’re buying a fixer-upper?