Tiara Yachts for Sale

From Chris-Craft to S2

Leon Slikkers left the family farm at 18 in 1946 to work at Chris-Craft in Holland, where he made cabin tops in the joiner department. During a 1952 strike he and a coworker built about ten plywood runabouts in the Slikkers garage. That turned into SlickCraft, which he later sold to AMF.

On February 18, 1974, he founded S2 Yachts with his sons David and Robert to build fiberglass sailboats, in a 72,000-square-foot plant on East 40th Street that is still in use. Once his non-compete ran out, S2 went back into powerboats and created the Tiara division. Pursuit fishing boats followed in 1977. Tiara closed a South Carolina plant during the 2008 and 2009 downturn and moved all building back to Holland.

The C39 Coupe

The C39 came out in 2016 after the C53 and C44. It's 40 feet 10 inches long with a 13-foot-3 beam and 3-foot-4 draft, and carries 300 gallons of fuel and 100 of water. Power is twin Volvo Penta IPS 500s. YachtBuyer's figures show 35 knots at 3,625 rpm burning 42 gph, and 30 knots at 31 gph with about 262 nm of range.

Pacific Yachting's review said the hull is based on Tiara's 36 Open, hand-laid with a solid glass bottom and balsa-cored sides, deck and house. Tiara kept the engines close to where shaft drives would sit, which the reviewer said avoids the aft weight that made some early pod boats slow to plane. He called the fit and finish excellent.

The 3600 Open

Built from 1987 to 1996, the 3600 Open is 36 feet 8 inches with a 13-foot-9 beam, 396 gallons of fuel and Caterpillar 3208 diesels or Crusader gas engines. Surveyor David Pascoe clocked 28.2 knots with 425 hp Cats in two-foot confused swells, but found the ride harsh because the bottom is fairly flat. He liked the solid glass hull, the helm and the electrical panel. He disliked the engine room access.

What they cost

In late 2026, a 2019 C39 Coupe with 503 hours on its IPS 500s was listed at $625,000 by Bay Marine in Sandusky, Ohio. A 2018 Coupe 39 was $529,900 in Hyannis, Massachusetts, and a 2019 was $595,000 in Newport Beach. Older 3600 Opens on YachtWorld asked roughly $44,900 to $129,900.

Buying checks for a Tiara

Test the 3600 engine hatch. Pascoe found the hatch lifts too weak for hatches carrying heavy seat modules. One failed during a survey. Open it yourself before you make an offer.

Look for steel in the rudder benches. Early 3600s used steel channel there, which rusts. Later boats switched to fiberglass or aluminum.

Check the ports and A/C ducts. The early oval ports leaked, and uninsulated A/C ducts can drip condensation onto the sole. Probe for soft or stained wood.

Ask for IPS records on a Coupe. Get Volvo Penta service history for the pods and have a certified tech check the joystick system.