An Alden staysail ketch built in Japan: D/L 414, Comfort 41, CSF 1.58. Slow, gentle, and $15,000.
Photo: SEA Marine listing, Port Townsend WA (YachtWorld). Editorial/review use — licensing to be confirmed before commercial launch.
Price
$15,000 asking (Port Townsend WA, Oct 2026)
Length
34' 7" LOA / 26' 0" LWL
Weight
16,302 lb displacement
Capacity
40 gal fuel / 60 gal water · headroom 6'3"
Drive
Westerbeke diesel
Best for: The sailor under 6'3" who wants the most comfortable motion per dollar and does not care about speed.
The good
John Alden design, 128 built; the heaviest-per-foot boat in its section and one of the kindest at sea.
CSF 1.58 and Comfort 41 are second only to the Cape George.
Every sail on a ketch is small, which helps one person.
The bad
6.8-knot hull and SA/D 13.4: an 18 to 20 day boat with the diesel running in the lulls.
Four sails to manage; a cutter is simpler alone than a ketch.
Many Fujis have teak decks; survey for leaks and core.
The honest take
The cheapest heavy cruiser in the article. It will never be fast and it will never scare you. If the teak decks are sound, it is a lot of boat for $15,000.
The Pact
We'll always be honest about gear. The good and the bad.
Most reviews you read only tell you what's great about a product. Ours tell you what's wrong with it too — where it fails, who shouldn't buy it, and when the cheaper option is the smarter one.
Every verdict comes from actually fishing the gear, not reading a spec sheet. When we get it wrong, the correction runs as loud as the original take.
The good and the badWe tell you what's wrong with a product, not just what's right.
Real water, real testingVerdicts come from actually fishing it — not a press release.
Argue with usEvery take is open for fire — here, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. We read all of it.
