Ocean Master Yachts for Sale

Ocean Master began in 1974 when Mark Hauptner, then running a Mercury dealership, could not find a center console big enough for a customer who wanted to run the Caribbean chain, so he built one. That boat, a 31 called The Only One, became the Ocean Master 31 and effectively made the case that an outboard center console could fish offshore alongside inboard sportfishermen. Hauptner still owns the company, which now builds from a plant on Old Kansas Avenue in Stuart, Florida, and the line runs a 186 flats boat, a 27, two 296s, the 31 and the 336, plus commercial and government versions.

Used, these are heavy, wet weather, run offshore boats and they are bought by people who already know that. The 31 in particular has been in production so long that hulls span three decades, which is an advantage because the design is proven and the yard still supports it, and a trap because a 1990 boat and a 2015 boat share a name and very little else. Establish the year, then establish what has been done to it: transom and stringers on any older hull that has carried heavier modern four strokes than it was built for, the fuel tank, the rigging tubes and the wiring, and the hardtop and its mounts. Repower history is the main value driver. These boats are usually rigged with big outboards and a tower, and a clean set of recent engines with records is worth more than any amount of cosmetics. The unusual advantage here is that the builder is a small family firm, still in Florida, still making the same models, so parts, a replacement part number and a straight answer are all a phone call away, which is not true of most boats in this part of the market. A commercial or ex government hull, and there are some, should be surveyed as the hard used working boat it is.