DeFever trawlers for sale.

DeFever trawlers take their name from Arthur DeFever (1918–2013), a San Diego naval architect who designed long-range tuna boats in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, members of the Offshore Cruising Society asked him for seaworthy powerboats with the range to cruise the Pacific coast to Mexico and Alaska, and he drew full-displacement diesel cruisers of 38 to 54 feet. More than 3,800 boats are estimated to have been built to his designs.

DeFever designed boats rather than building them, so several yards produced his work. The Passagemaker 34 and 40 were built by Jensen Marine in California, while the 44 Offshore Cruiser, 49 Raised Pilothouse and 52 Offshore Cruiser came from CTF in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and later from POCTA in mainland China. The faster Performance Offshore Cruiser models of the mid-1980s had semi-displacement hulls and came from Taiwan's Sen Koh yard. Owners keep in touch through the DeFever Cruisers club.

Designer

Arthur DeFever (1918–2013)

Design office

San Diego, California

First yachts

Early 1960s