Built near Amsterdam in 1914 as a Dutch North Sea pilot schooner, the Sailing School Vessel (SSV) Tabor Boy originally carried the name Pilot Schooner #2 and was engaged in that service until 1929.  Renamed Bestevaer, she then sailed as a school ship for the Dutch merchant marine until her capture during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.

Bestevaer was returned to Holland after the war and sold to businessman Ralph C. Allen in 1952.  Mr. Allen had the vessel sailed to the United States and, two years later, presented her to Tabor Academy. She arrived in Marion on May 20, 1954 and has since logged countless miles with her Tabor student crews.

Today, the SSV Tabor Boy is a  Coast Guard-inspected and certified Sailing School Vessel and is equipped with up-to-date safety gear and navigation electronics.  Her various programs offer Tabor students a broad variety of opportunities to experience and learn from the sea. Tabor Boy has sailed between Maine and the Caribbean Sea, including a 1993 voyage through the Panama Canal.