5 Dirt-Cheap Catamarans Nobody Buys (But They Outlast Every New One Forever)

A marine surveyor's take on five older cruising catamarans worth more than most new ones, and the one thing to check on each before you buy. Featured: Gemini 105M / 105Mc, Endeavour Catamaran 36, Catalac 8M / 9M, PDQ 36, and the Prout Snowgoose 37. Honorable mentions: Manta 42 and the Heavenly Twins. Why solid-glass-below-the-waterline construction outlasts cored production hulls, with real asking prices and the survey points that save you a five-figure surprise. Fact-check / sources block (credibility armor): New cruising-cat pricing framed as a market range, not a single figure. Gemini built by Performance Cruising (Annapolis), 1,000-plus hulls; single diesel on a steerable drive leg; ~14 ft beam. Centerboard and drive-leg-parts cautions are owner-reported. Catalac: Tom Lack Catalac closed 1986; 255 nine-meters and 216 eight-meters built; solid-glass hull; twin single-cylinder raw-water-cooled Yanmars or single outboard. PDQ 36: vacuum-bagged foam-core/vinylester; ~100 built 1991–2003; twin diesels on saildrives or twin retracting outboards. Prout Snowgoose 37: ~500 built; builder's history credits nearly 100 circumnavigations; builder closed 2002; clean examples listed from ~$39,000. Lagoon 450 forward-bulkhead issue: ~40 reported cases out of 1,000-plus boats per Lagoon's own service network; Lagoon's engineering review found no safety risk; cross-brand flexing noted for fairness. All prices are last-listed/asking figures, not confirmed sale prices.