Before You Buy a Seawind 1160: What Every Serious Buyer Should Know
- Captn Tommy
- Dec 8, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
The Seawind 1160 has earned its reputation as a capable, practical cruising catamaran — light on its feet, cleverly designed, and built for sailors who value simplicity over excess.But like every production catamaran in the 38–40 ft range, the 1160 has patterns.Not flaws — patterns.
And understanding those patterns early can save a buyer dozens of emails, a few flights, and potentially thousands of dollars in surveys and haul-outs that didn’t need to happen.
That’s why we created the Seawind 1160 — Comprehensive Survey-Prep Guide, a model-specific inspection manual built for buyers who want clarity before commitment.
Why a Model-Specific Guide Matters
General boat-buying advice is everywhere. What’s rare is practical guidance tailored to one model, written by people who have spent enough time around real cruising cats to know exactly where age tends to appear.
The Seawind 1160 has a few characteristic areas where buyers often pause:
window bonding and sealant cycles
steering linkage feel and cable tension
chainplate bedding and interior staining
rudder play at the stocks
wear on the forward beam and dolphin striker
anchoring system loads and platform wear
moisture-prone interior corners and veneers
None of this is about finding faults. It’s simply the kind of practical, pattern-based knowledge that helps a buyer understand what a well-kept 1160 should look like — and what deserves a second look.
Our guide walks you through each of these points calmly and clearly.
What’s Inside the Seawind 1160 Survey-Prep Guide
You get a structured, step-by-step approach to evaluating a vessel remotely and in person:
Full model overview
Known weak points and age-related wear
Red flags (observations that commonly pause buyers)
Green flags (positive signs of good care)
Questions to ask the seller
A detailed photo checklist for remote evaluation
Sea-trial guidance specific to the 1160
Negotiation notes based on real-world patterns
Model-specific advice for long-term ownership
The goal isn’t to replace a marine survey. It’s to help you decide whether the boat is worth reaching the survey stage in the first place.
A surprising amount of uncertainty disappears when the buyer knows exactly what to photograph, what to ask, and how to interpret what they see.
Why Serious Buyers Are Using These Guides
A good pre-survey checklist prevents wasted time.A model-specific checklist prevents wasted trips.
Our guides make it easier to:
ask the right questions,
interpret the seller’s answers,
gather meaningful photos,
understand typical service cycles,
and recognize when a boat’s story is consistent — or not.
Most importantly, they help you avoid falling in love with a listing before you understand the boat beneath the brochure.
Perfect for Remote Buyers
Many Seawind 1160s are located far from the buyer’s home country.Before you invest in flights, hotels, and a surveyor, it’s helpful to know:
whether the boat is likely worth the trip,
whether its maintenance rhythm is steady or sporadic,
and whether the pricing aligns with real-world condition.
A good photo set paired with this guide often reveals more than an early in-person walk-through.
Who This Guide Is For
This guide is built for:
first-time catamaran buyers who want a structured inspection method
experienced sailors moving up to a 1160
remote buyers evaluating several boats internationally
anyone wanting a clear, calm, professional approach to pre-survey evaluation
It is not designed for brokers, sellers, or surveyors — it’s designed to empower buyers.
If a Seawind 1160 Is on Your Shortlist, Start Here
You don’t need to be an expert.You just need the right framework.
The Seawind 1160 — Comprehensive Survey-Prep Guide gives you that framework, and the confidence that comes with it.
