Tayana Vancouver 42 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Tayana Vancouver 42 means stepping into Robert Harris' semicustom Taiwan cruiser world, where roughly 200 hulls were built from 1979 and no two interiors are quite alike. The boat's reputation as an extremely seaworthy cutter draws offshore-minded buyers, but the used fleet rewards a careful look at a few known weak points rather than a casual purchase.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin arrangements are the more common on the used market, though both layout styles appear, and ex-charter examples are common. Beyond that broad split, the Vancouver 42 was built in aft-cockpit and center-cockpit forms, with a small number of pilothouse versions produced after one buyer's factory commission. Because Ta Yang built each boat semicustom with movable bulkheads, the as-found accommodation plan on any individual listing may differ substantially from another's even when the cockpit position matches.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Used Vancouver 42s commonly carry chartplotter, radar, autopilot, inverter, solar, hot water, teak decks, life raft, and watermaker — a cluster that covers navigation, energy, and self-sufficiency for passage work. Often-seen additions include AIS, lithium batteries, asymmetric and symmetric spinnakers, bimini, dodger, freezer, EPIRB, and what sellers describe as a short-handed sail-handling setup. Less common owner upgrades run to air conditioning, heating, electric winches, hardtop, dinghy davits, cockpit shower, and wind generator. A buyer should weigh the short-handed rigging and energy upgrades most heavily, since they bear directly on offshore usability.
What to Inspect
The black-iron fuel tanks can rust if their external paint is chipped, so inspect the two 120-gallon cells for coating loss and early corrosion tank rust if paint chipped. Some older boats have suffered corrosion on chainplates and their attachment bolts belowdecks, a defect a survey should target at the structural attachment points chainplate corrosion belowdecks. The original decking of glued teak strips is prone to letting moisture reach the underlying core, making seam condition and core soundness a primary check teak deck water intrusion. Hull/deck joints and serious blistering haven't typically been issues, but the resin and gelcoat spec changed by build year and remains worth confirming.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The typical markets where these boats turn up are the United States, Australia, Mexico, Grenada, Panama, and New Caledonia. For a buyer, the practical checklist is: confirm the fuel-tank coating, probe chainplate bolts and teak-deck core for moisture, verify gelcoat era against the 1985 and 1992 material changes, and assess whether the semicustom layout matches your cruising plan. The Vancouver 42 remains a fundamentally sound offshore cutter whose used-market risks are concentrated in a short, inspectable list.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Tayana Vancouver 42. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 13 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25 | 1 | $105,000 | — |
| May 25 | 2 | $65,000 | -38.1% |
| Jun 25 | 4 | $114,950 | +76.8% |
| Sep 25 | 2 | $114,000 | -0.8% |
| Oct 25 | 11 | $109,999 | -3.5% |
| Jan 26 | 5 | $70,000 | -36.4% |
| Feb 26 | 1 | $84,203 | +20.3% |
| Mar 26 | 7 | $139,000 | +65.1% |
| Apr 26 | 7 | $150,000 | +7.9% |
| May 26 | 9 | $119,995 | -20.0% |
| Jun 26 | 4 | $86,093 | -28.3% |
| Jul 26 | 3 | $119,900 | +39.3% |
| Aug 26 | 3 | $119,995 | +0.1% |
Where they're listed
Tayana Vancouver 42 listings appear across 8 countries. United States has the most listings with 25 (59.5%), followed by Australia and Grenada.
Country view
42 listings · 8 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $119,995 | 25 | 3 | 59.5% |
| Australia | $52,374 | 5 | 0 | 11.9% |
| Grenada | $199,000 | 3 | 0 | 7.1% |
| Mexico | $70,000 | 3 | 0 | 7.1% |
| Panama | $150,000 | 3 | 0 | 7.1% |
| Spain | $92,908 | 1 | 0 | 2.4% |
| New Caledonia | $77,236 | 1 | 0 | 2.4% |
| New Zealand | $84,203 | 1 | 0 | 2.4% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
6 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tayana Vancouver 42You are here | — | $ 119,995 | 45 | 3 |
| Valiant 42 | 42' | $ 299,999 | 22 | 7 |
| Siltala 42 | 42.65' | $ 268,704 | 19 | 5 |
| Moody 42 | 41.79' | $ 64,917 | 14 | 3 |
| Rustler 42 | 42' | $ 463,032 | 11 | 4 |
| Vagabond 42 | 42' | $ 42,500 | 10 | 2 |