Mariner Pacer 26 question

[black runner]

Been looking at the above boat 1980 vintage. I understand that they were built by the founder of Riviera Bill Barry-Cotter and seems to be a well founded and stable hull with a good balance of cockpit accommodation and headroom.

Does anyone know much about these, this one is a shaft drive but is unfortunately powered by a 318 Chrysler petrol - would prefer diesel.

If it could be puchased at the right price what would be a viable repowering option in diesel please?

Cheers

[on-one]

I looked at several of these when I was looking for my current boat 3 years ago. The advice I was given at the time was to avoid the 165 volvo diesel they usually have as it's getting quite old and is expensive to repair. I looked into the cost of repowering and diesel didn't make a lot of sense unless you do enormous hours - if you can get one with a more modern injected petrol v8 already fitted it would probably be the best bet - hope this helps

[black runner]

Thanks o-o,

How about the hull - any known weaknesses, and what boat did you end up with?

Cheers

[on-one]

The two things a few people mentioned at the time (just advice I recieved not from my personal experience) was that the flybridge version was a bit top heavy and that the savage lancer was a similar layout and a heavier built boat (although I ended up discounting the lancer for that reason as they really needed two v8s). In the end I found what I really wanted which was a fiberglass displacement boat, not many around which is why I was lookingat the pacers.

[brush]

Gooday Blacky, We had a MP26 for years on the gold coast. it was a F/B fitted with a shaft drive merc V8 350.
It was a great boat to live on for weekends and extended hols. They were built by B B-C Mariner sydney, very stable and solid, with the V8 it could get up and go if U could afford the fuel.
They are well built and and there were 5 25&26 Pacers in our Boat Club.
They do perform better with the old Chrysler 318V8 motor which are very reliable.
Most of the time we travelled along a 8- 10 knots .
Its all "horses for courses" how you want to use the Boat.
I would buy one again
Cheers Brush

[MarkDiver]

B_R, I had a 22 Mariner Pacer without f/brigde; however it had a custom aluminium pod with a 225hp Yammie 4str! This made her ~24ft. I tell you what, she got up and flew in a hurry reaching in excess of 30knots WOT however I only did those speeds on a calm day to see what she was capable of - respecting the age and hull design that wasn't designed for those speeds but she did handle it fine.
The 225hp was physically slightly heavy however it was great having the extra horses when the wind picked up - very economical.
Only gripe I had was where to put the extra fuel - when you rip out the inboard there is a lot of room underfloor but the large underfloor tanks are also expensive. Overall a nice boat, sturdy hull w/ no leaks. No frills. Low maintenance. Easy to custom fit/alter.