Grampian 23 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used brokerage market for a Grampian 23 means looking at a 1971–1976 Canadian-built pocket cruiser from Grampian Marine, with 450 produced and Alex McGruer's name on the design. These are solid fiberglass swing-keel sloops whose appeal is interior space in a trailerable footprint, and the used fleet reflects that original character rather than heavily modified racers.
Layouts on the Used Market
The dominant layout is the swing-keel masthead sloop with a pop-top cabin, five berths, a port-side galley with two-burner stove and sink, and a starboard head aft of the bow. A fixed fin keel was a factory option, so some boats will sit on a permanent keel rather than the retractable centerboard-style foil — worth confirming, as it changes trailering and grounding behavior. Cabin headroom is 64 inches, and the aft berth lies under the cockpit to port.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The Grampian 23 was outboard-powered from new, so a buyer is evaluating stern-mounted auxiliary condition rather than an inboard. A symmetrical spinnaker was a permissible downwind addition, and some owners will have added one. Beyond that, any electronics, canvas, or rigging additions should be read as individual owner choices rather than fleet standards.
What to Inspect
The one design-level item to check is the cockpit, which is relatively small for the boat's size because the interior was made so spacious the spacious interior makes the cockpit relatively small for the boat's size. On a swing-keel example, the keel trunk and pivot hardware deserve close attention for wear or water intrusion, since the retracting foil is the boat's defining system. The solid fiberglass hull and deck remove core-rot concerns, but a normal osmosis and gelcoat survey still applies.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The typical market for these boats is the United States. For a shopper, the practical checklist is: confirm keel type (swing vs. fixed fin), assess outboard and swing-keel mechanism, check the small cockpit against your crew plans, and survey the solid glass hull as you would any 1970s fiberglass cruiser. The Grampian 23 rewards the buyer who values cabin room and simple systems over a large outdoor cockpit.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Grampian 23. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
2 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Com-Pac 23 | 22.75' | $ 8,000 | 11 | 5 |
| Leisure 23 | 22.64' | $ 5,505 | 10 | 4 |
