1992 Dragonfly 800 — Keyhaven, England

A 1992 Dragonfly 800 at Keyhaven, asking $27,949 through Network Yacht Brokers — 26 ft of Danish folding trimaran. Quorning Boats first built the 800 in 1986, but the version that made the yard's name came in 1989, when Børge Quorning's Swing Wing crossbeams let the 19.9 ft beam fold to less than half from the cockpit, no tools, about a minute a side. 143 Swing Wing hulls followed through 2005; a 1992 boat sits squarely in those years, and the type's reputation is first-class glasswork over the fastest fold in the business.

The design idea is a pocket trimaran that solves the slip problem: fold to under half beam for a cheap berth or a road trailer, then sail flat and quick, single- or short-handed. Two honesty notes on this example: no condition detail reached us, and the boat has been listed 323 days. Neither is a verdict; both are questions for the broker before you travel.

The money reads keen. This is the cheaper of the two Dragonfly 800s we hold, and it sits near the floor of the trailerable-trimaran shelf — all but one of the tris we card against it ask more, most of them substantially.

The benchmark is its only sister here: the 1993 boat at Hythe, up the Solent, asking $35,271 — $7,322 over this one for a single model year:

If the fold matters more than the yard, the same coast holds the American alternative — a 1990 Corsair 27 at Emsworth, two years older and $18,636 dearer at $46,585:

And Quorning's own upgrade path is the Dragonfly 920: a 1998 example at Noirmoutier-en-l'Île asks $54,000 for four more feet and six fewer years:

None of the three undercuts it. If a Dragonfly 800 is the shape of the plan, this is the one to survey first: