Spencer Yachts for Sale

Spencer Yachts is a custom Carolina yard and one of the serious ones. Captain Paul Spencer fished out of Oregon Inlet from boyhood, had his license at 20, and in 1996 moved from running boats to building them, starting under a tin shed at Manns Harbor with no power or plumbing. The company now runs two sites: five bays at Manns Harbor where every hull is cold molded on a jig, wood and epoxy laid up in layers, and the Wanchese yard at 31 Beverly Drive where the boats are finished, with six more bays, twelve slips and the yard's own paint shop, metal shop and carpentry shop. Spencer builds from 37 to 87 feet, has put well over a hundred hulls in the water, and has done pod drive versions at 43, 45, 49, 57, 60, 61 and 87 feet as well as 37 foot twin outboard expresses.

On a Spencer the hull is the whole question, and the answer is cold molded wood and epoxy built on a jig, not a production mold. That construction is light, stiff and fast when it is done right, and it is unforgiving of water getting in where it should not, so the survey has to be done by somebody who knows cold molded boats and knows this yard's work: moisture readings through the bottom and around every through hull, the transom, the cockpit and mezzanine sole, the tower mounts and the fuel tank foundations. Nothing here is a model. Two 43s of the same year can differ in engines, tankage, tower, mezzanine, generator and interior, and that spread is worth hundreds of thousands, so read the original build specification rather than the brochure. The strongest argument for these boats is that the yard is still there, still owned by the man whose name is on them, and will take one back for refit, repaint or repower with the drawings on file. One caution on the badge itself: some listings sold as Spencer are not this company at all, but Spencer 51 and 53 cruising sailboats designed by John Brandlmayr and built by Spencer Boats Ltd in Vancouver, British Columbia, an unrelated firm. Check the hull, the rig and the state before you assume.