Paceship sailboats for sale

Buying a used Paceship: a brand built by four different hands

A used Paceship is really a boat from one of several distinct chapters: a small Nova Scotia yard's own designs, a run of commissioned boats from outside naval architects, and - for the PY-23 and PY-26 - a design that later crossed the border to an American conglomerate's plant before ending up in Tanzer Industries' hands. That layered history matters more than it would for a single-designer marque, because construction details, hardware, and even keel material changed between chapters. Knowing which chapter a given boat comes from is a real diligence step, well before condition.

Which era to target

The clearest tell for a Nova Scotia-built boat versus one assembled at AMF's Connecticut plant is the toerail: Canadian-built boats carried teak, while AMF-built examples switched to a slotted aluminum toerail. Ballast material is a similarly useful marker. The Hunt Associates-designed PY-23 and PY-26 used cast iron ballast, which unlike lead can rust over time, while the Chance-designed 32-28 carried a cast lead keel bolted to the hull. Practical Sailor also considered the PY line's transom-mounted rudder - unusual for the boat's size - easier to inspect and maintain than an inboard spade rudder, a genuine plus during a survey.

Navigating the lineup

Shoppers land in one of three size-and-era bands: the smallest daysailers and pocket cruisers from the yard's earliest run, the mid-size keelboats drawn by C&C and Chance through the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the trailerable Hunt Associates line at the top of the production numbers. Anyone cross-shopping should also know the Tanzer 27 descends directly from the Paceship PY-26's mold and rights, sold to Tanzer Industries in 1981 once Paceship's own production ended - worth a look for buyers who can't find a PY-26 in the condition they want. The full model directory on this page breaks the range down further.