Is this boat worth the flight and the survey fee?
A survey plus the trip to go and see her runs well over a thousand dollars, and you find out what it buys you only after you've paid for both. Knotworth goes first. Paste any listing for a free pre-check, then unlock the boats still in the running: true all-in cost, a per-system condition read, and the seller questions that settle it before you book anything.
Knotworth is not a survey and never replaces one. It decides which boat deserves yours.
How it works, what you get, and what it costs
From pasted URL to final go/no-go
Knotworth reads the listing the way a skeptic would: what's claimed, what's silent, and what a boat this age typically needs. Then it prices the gap, writes your seller questions, and recomputes as answers arrive.
See how it worksA real report, opened up
A 1983 Catalina 30 listed at $13,000 in Long Beach, with a true cost of $20,365 to $46,620 once rigging, sails, California tax and the unknowns are priced in. Walk through the condition read, the cost table and the negotiation case it produced.
Open the sample reportOne payment per boat. No subscription.
The pre-check is free for every boat you're eyeing. One fixed payment unlocks a boat's full report, unlimited recomputes and the negotiation evidence case. You never pay to be told an easy no.
See pricingKnotworth is a research aid, not a marine survey. Always commission a professional survey and sea trial before purchase.
Already have a model in mind? Start with what it really costs.
- Catalina 30The most-built 30-footer ever. What $15,000 to $30,000 asks actually buys, and what breaks.
- Catalina 22A $2,500 to $7,000 first boat where the trailer, outboard and sails often cost more than the hull.
- Westsail 32Extraordinarily strong, genuinely slow, half of them finished from kits. How to tell which half.
- Cape Dory 28An Alberg full-keel boat that screens offshore-capable at 28 feet, with a capsize value of 1.71.
- Best bluewater sailboats under $100,000Five monohulls with real ocean records, on the market today between $14,000 and $65,000.
- Used sailboat inspection checklistWhat to settle before you travel, what your own hands can check aboard, and what only a surveyor can find. Free PDF, no sign-up.
Questions people ask first
Is this a survey?+
No, and it never replaces one. A surveyor puts hands on the boat; Knotworth reads what is knowable before you get there - the listing, the model's design data, and what a hull of this age typically needs - so that the survey you do commission is on a boat worth surveying. Always commission a professional survey and sea trial before you buy.
What does the free pre-check actually give me?+
The specs and design ratios for that exact model, how the boat fits the way you say you will sail, any knock-out against your budget ceiling, and a read on which major systems are past their usual replacement interval at this age. It is enough to decide whether a listing is worth another hour of your time. It is free on every boat, with no card.
What does the full report cost?+
$39 per boat, one time, in the US and most of the world; €34 in the eurozone and £29 in the UK, tax included rather than added at checkout. There is no subscription. That one payment covers the whole loop for that boat: the true-cost breakdown, the condition read, the seller questions, and unlimited recomputes as the answers come back.
Which listing sites work?+
Anything with a public listing page - YachtWorld, boats.com, Boat Trader, boat24, Apollo Duck, broker sites and classifieds. If a listing sits behind a login, as Facebook Marketplace and some brokers do, paste the listing text instead and you get the same analysis.
How accurate are the cost numbers?+
Every figure is a range with the assumption behind it stated, never a single confident number. Costing is deterministic rules over regional labour and parts data, not a language model inventing prices, so it is auditable. And every line is yours to override: paste a real quote and it beats our estimate everywhere it appears, for good.
What happens to the listings I paste?+
We fetch each one when you ask, for you, and keep the result on your account so your reports stay readable. We do not build a searchable catalogue of other people's listings, we do not sell or share what you are researching, and our analytics never sees a listing URL, a boat name, or anything you type.
Paste its listing URL. The pre-check is free, takes about a minute, and tells you whether it is worth another hour - let alone a flight.