The Paceship PY 23 (or PY23) is a Canadian trailerable

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

, that was designed by John Deknatel of C. Raymond Hunt Associates and first built in 1973.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 188.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

, 2010.

Production

The boat was built by

Paceship Yachts Paceship Yachts Limited was a Canada, Canadian, and later United States, American, boat builder originally based in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. The company was founded in 1962 and specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. ...

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia Mahone Bay is a town on the northwest shore of Mahone Bay along the South Shore of Nova Scotia in Lunenburg County. A long-standing picturesque tourism destination, the town has recently enjoyed a growing reputation as a haven for entrepreneur ...

between 1973 and 1981,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and later by

American Machine and Foundry American Machine and Foundry (known after 1970 as AMF, Inc.) was one of the United States' largest recreational equipment companies, with diversified products as disparate as garden equipment, atomic reactors, and yachts. The company was founde ...

(AMF) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but it is now out of production.

Design

Paceship PY 23 sailboat Second Wind 1224

The Paceship PY 23 is a small recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...

, built predominantly of hand-laid up

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

with

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

cores and

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

and

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

wood trim. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, a ...

rig, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

, a

centreboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

and or an optional fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. It displaces and carries of iron and lead ballast.AMF, Inc, ''Pacehips's 23 foot Family Cruiser'' (original sales brochure), 1973 The centreboard version has a draft of with the lead-weighted centreboard and kick-up rudder both extended and with the centreboard retracted into the stub iron keel, allowing ground transportation on a trailer. The stub iron keel on the centreboard version allows the centreboard to be retracted without using interior cabin accommodation space, as well as beaching without damage to the hull. The later fixed fin keel version has a draft of and is often referred to as the PY 23K or PY 23 FK. This fixed keel version was designed for

Midget Ocean Racing Club The Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) is an American association based in Severna Park, Maryland, that promotes and organizes ocean racing for small sailboats under a handicapping rule. History Founded in 1954, the club was formally organized a ...

(MORC) competition. The design features anodized spars, a self-bailing cockpit designed for six adults and an optional mainsheet traveller. A cockpit dodger was also optional. Below deck accommodations include four cabin windows, headroom, a "V" berth in the bow, storage shelving and bins, a folding dining table, an optional gallery with an icebox, a stainless steel sink and a fresh water tank. The PY 23 was designed so that even if a knock-down occurs that puts the mast in the water, the boat's interior will not take on water and the boat remains self-righting. The boat is normally fitted with a small

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

for docking and maneuvering. The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 240 and a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-tro ...

of .

Operational history

The boat was at one time supported by an active class club, ''The Paceship'', but the club is currently inactive. In a review Michael McGoldrick wrote, "Unlike the interior of many boats built in the 1970s which have a dinette arrangement, the PY23's layout features two settees which are parallel to the centerline, and a table which folds up against a bulkhead. This layout often provides for more open space in the main cabin. It's also in this size range that boats get big enough to have a semi-private head located behind a bulkhead." In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "it is interesting to compare this vessel with the slightly smaller O'Day 22 ... designed by the same firm, Raymond Hunt Associates, at around the same time. The PY23, like her little sister, has a reverse transom, which adds a foot to the hull length, justifying the '23' designation, at least in the minds of her marketers. Both boats were offered with either keel or shoal-draft keel-centerboard configuration. The layouts below are also similar, except for the galley location; the bigger boat puts the galley under the main hatch, where the cook, if he wants, can stand up straight to make dinner. Best features: The coamings are unusually high forward, giving good back support to the PY23's crew. The helmsperson, however has to suffer with a coaming no higher than the O’Day 22's. Down below, a sliding door affords privacy in the head compartment, and the head is well positioned under the forward hatch to give good ventilation and good headroom and knee room. Worst features: While the PY23's cabin space is certainly greater than the Kirby Blazer ... it's a great deal less than the Precision 23's (which is almost a foot longer and half a foot wider)."

References

External links

* {{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Sailboat type designs by John Deknatel Sailboat type designs by C. Raymond Hunt Associates Sailboat types built by Paceship Yachts

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links