| re the questions in .0:
Any boat with a cored hull or deck may have delamination problems.
According to an article in Practical Sailor, every builder (including
Hinckley, for example) has had some delamination problems and virtually
every boat more than a few years old has the odd delaminated area. As
long as the core material is dry, delamination is easily repaired.
Valiants (so far as I know) do not have any particular delamination
problems. Our boat had some delamination in the deck (probably due to
improper layup when the deck was built) which was repaired under
warranty.
Blistering. Sigh, yes, this is a problem with early Valiants (pre 1982
or so). The fire retardant resin seems to be more prone than other
resins to blistering. Apparently the incidence of blistering is greater
on boats that have lived in the south and on boats that are in the water
year round. Not all Valiants have blistered. Our 32 (built 1979)
developed minor blisters below the waterline. After allowing the hull to
dry over a New England winter, we (with the help of some friends)
applied four coats of epoxy from the waterline down. Two years later
there is no sign of further blistering under the epoxy. Boats from all
builders have blistered, by the way.
The original Valiant 32s and 40s were built by Uniflite under a contract
from Valiant, and the original Valiant Espirit 37s by Nordic (Uniflite
may have built a few Esprits, but I'm not sure about this). After
Uniflite Clark Boat built a few boats. Then Rich Worstell, the largest
Valiant dealer, bought Valiant. The boats are now built by Valiant in
Texas using a different resin than used by Uniflite. Supposedly the
blistering problems do not affect the boats built since 1982.
If I were looking for a used Valiant, I'd look for a 1982 or later boat.
However, because of the fear many or most people have of blisters,
earlier boats may be a tremendous bargain. especially if you feel you
can make any necessary repairs yourself. The repairs aren't difficult,
just very labor intensive.
There have been some design changes in the Valiants over the years --
some good, some not so good. The changes in the 32 have been not so
good. A sloop rig is now standard (I like our cutter rig immensely in
spite of its shortcomings) and the new design of the cabin table is
awful. The design of the 40's keel was changed (much improved) around
1980. This resulted in deep bilges and a better distribution of lead in
the fin keel. There have also been some changes in the coach roof.
The rig on the 47 was reduced in size after hull #1 to make it more
manageable.
The Valiant 32 is relatively heavier than the Valiant 40, but neither is
an outstanding light air boat. They weren't designed to be. The boats
are designed and built to be safe in any weather you might reasonably
encountered anywhere offshore. The successful circumnavigations by Dan
Bryne (in the first BOC race), Mark Schrader, and the Blacks (who won
the Blue Water Cruising Medal) in Valiant 40s demonstrate this. I have
only praise for our 32 after a round trip to Bermuda.
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| re.0
Hello gang, I gather you would like to know more about the Valiants,
as I have talked to Alan earlier this year before the purchase of my boat
and his experiences with the Valiant and my own experience with other boat
design, I have made my decision and bought 1977 Valiant 40. This happened in
the August of this year. Since then my wife and myself have been working on
restoring the boat to almost "new" condition. We have put more than 400 hours
together, 10+ gallons of epoxy (I am using the West system), hundreds of
sanding disks etc.,etc. The best part of it is, we both admire this boat more
than when we have bought it, because of the quality of construction, very
cautious engineering, great layout and right proportions to provide a crew
with the human creatures. The best example is the width of the settees, on
my previous boat (Beneteau First 345) they were not wide enough in the
shoulder area to lay flat (not unless you have removed the cushions) not
on the Valiant, with the lee-cloth and cushion you are perfectly snagged in.
That enough of bragging about my boat, let go back to the blister
problem, all Valiants staring about end of 1976 through about end of 1981 have
developed different degree of blistering ( fire retardant in the polyester
resin and quality of work). My boat had been chartered in the Virgin Islands
for eight years with extremely poor quality of maintenance service. She never
had an epoxy or tar barrier coat put on below the water line just straight
bottom paint and any kind of blistering noticed by the maintenance crew patched
with the "Bondo" automotive type filler which was still soft when I was
grinding it out two month ago. No wonder that the water did not have any
problem penetrating under these patches. Not to mention the only blister
touched by the V.I. yard were larger than a 1/2 inch in diameter.
I have started my job by sandblasting the bottom, this opened any voids which
existed right below the gelcoat (thousands) and then by sounding with the
4 oz. mullet we have discover the 'hidden treasure', large blisters below
three layers of cloth, mat and final woven roving (about 1/4" deep).
They were full of brown chemical solution which filled the void between
woven rowing and next layer of the cloth. All these areas had to be grind out
and then rebuilt with layers of 12 oz. cloth to restore the strength of the
effected area. The largest I have found was the size of 14" long by 8" wide
and it contained about 2 oz. of fluid. There were hundreds of them in the
size range 4"x2" through 4"x6". The best way to describe this is to say,
that several weeks ago we thought we were done with the bottom, till my wife
during final sanding discovered an area of the unusual feel to a touch, so
she continue to sand and as an reward got sprayed with the blister juices
after she has penetrated the rather thin blister wall. Same day I have
marked with the red marker 220 more infected spots.
In the end all blisters are repaired, boat bottom smooth and
curvature restored, we have rolled four coats of West System epoxy and
you would never be able to tell that this boat had large number of blister.
The boat repairs had been resurveyed and accepted.
This is by no mean end of the story, we have just changed from
working below the water line to the topsides (yes topsides have small blisters
too). Yesterday I have sprayed the first coat of the Pettit's Polypoxy
undercoat. And the saga continue....
Good luck to you all who are looking for the perfect boat, I think I have
found mine (has some problems), but as Rich Wostrell of the Valiant said,
"She was drive hard and put to bad wet" it does not matter to me because
any boat has problems but I would always rather deal with materials flows
than design flows which cannot be corrected.
If you have more questions drop me a line on NEWVAX::KAPUSCINSKI, or
GRANMA.
Igor.
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| [text copied from internet]
Major Valiant Accomplishments
1973 - BIRTH OF THE MODERN OFFSHORE SAILING YACHT:
Robert Perry designs the Valiant 40 and the era of the modern performance
cruising yacht is born!
1975 - 1979 BLUE WATER CRUISING MEDAL:
"FOREIGN AFFAIR" (V40-107) Bill and Mary Black, not only were the first to
circumnavigate in a Valiant, they were also awarded the coveted BLUE
WATER CRUISING MEDAL by The Cruising Club of America for the feat.
1976 - OSTAR SINGLE-HANDED TRANS-ATLANTIC RACE:
Francis Stokes, "MOONESHINE" (V40-122), and Everett Smith, "WINDQUEST"
(V40-114) both complete the 1976 OSTAR TRANS-ATLANTIC RACE. Francis
Stokes, "MOONESHINE" (V40-122) became the first American monohull to
finish this OSTAR TRANS-ATLANTIC RACE!
1978 - BERMUDA ONE/TWO:
"MOONESHINE" (V40-122) Francis Stokes won the BERMUDA 1-2, SINGLE-HANDED
OVER to Bermuda, and with his son on board, won the DOUBLE HANDED RACE
BACK FROM BERMUDA! The record he set on this race held for 10 years and
was only broken by a 60' one-off design B.O.C. racer ... the record
still stands today for a conventional monohull 40' or under, a Valiant
40!
1979 - CHOICE YACHT:
Valiant 40 selected as one of the 20 CHOICE YACHTS in Richard Henderson's
book, "Choice Yachts".
1980 - OSTAR SINGLE-HANDED TRANSATLANTIC RACE:
"MOONESHINE" (40-122), Francis Stokes, successfully completed OSTAR SINGLE-
HANDED TRANS-ATLANTIC RACE.
1980 - VALIANT VOTED "BOAT OF THE DECADE":
Sail Magazine's Readership Poll selected Valiant 40 the OFFSHORE
CRUISING BOAT OF THE DECADE.
1982 - PROPER YACHT:
Valiant 40 included in Second Edition of Arthur Bizer's "The Proper Yacht".
1983 - B.O.C. SINGLE-HANDED AROUND THE WORLD RACE:
"FANTASY" (V40-101) Hull #1, Dan Byrne, entrant in the single-handed
B.O.C. SINGLEHANDED AROUND THE WORLD RACE, aboard the original Valiant
40, Hull #1, already a proven offshore veteran with tens of thousands of
offshore miles under its keel before this event.
1983 - FASTEST SINGLE-HANDED CIRCUMNAVIGATION:
"RESOURCEFUL" (V40-252), Mark Schrader - fastest single-handed
circumnavigation, first American to circumnavigate five Southern Capes.
1985 - MIAMI TO MONTEGO BAY - JAMAICA RACE:
"STORMY PETREL" (V40-259), Blane Nashold lst in Class and first overall in the
1985 JOHNNIE WALKER CUP - MIAMI TO MONTEGO BAY.
1986 - B.O.C. SINGLE-HANDED AROUND THE WORLD RACE:
"LONESTAR" (V47-115), Mark Schrader, the only stock cruising yacht
entered in the BOC SINGLE-HANDED AROUND THE WORLD RACE. The ONLY boat
that completed the race without making a stop for major repairs or
breakdowns.
1989 - MARBLEHEAD TO HALIFAX RACE:
"SPICE" (V40-239), The brothers, Rob and Arthur Burke, winners lst in
Class and lst overall PHRF, MARBLEHEAD TO HALIFAX RACE.
1991 - CLASSIC FIBERGLASS SAILING YACHT:
SAIL Magazine selected the Valiant 40 for its list of "20 ALL TIME
CLASSIC SAILING YACHTS"!
1992 - CARIBBEAN 1500:
"ABOUT TIME" (V37-147), Lee Moore and Dee Whited, lst in Class in the 11
day, Caribbean 1500 Race, from Chesapeake Bay to St. Thomas, Virgin
Islands, 3rd overall.
1992 - AMERICA 500 SPAIN TO BAHAMAS RALLY:
"TOPAZ" (V42RS-101), Lois and John Post, lst in Class, American 500
Quincentenaary Rally, Spain to San Salvador, Bahamas.
1992 - AMERICA 500 SPAIN TO BAHAMAS RALLY:
"LINDISFARNE" (V47-117), John Miller, lst in Class, 3rd Overall, America
500 Quincentenaary Rally, Spain to San Salvador, Bahamas.
1992 - RECORD SETTING SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION:
"COMMITMENT" (V47-115), Captain Bill Pinkney became the first African
American to sail single-handed around the world, passing under all five
Southern Capes, aboard the Valiant 47 "COMMITMENT", the second time for
this same boat!
1993 - SELECTED AS ONE OF THE 100 BEST SAILING YACHTS:
"FOREIGN AFFAIR" (V40-107), Selected by Sail Magazine as "ONE OF THE 100
GREATEST SAILING YACHTS IN NORTH AMERICA"!
1993 - LAKE MICHIGAN "DOUBLE HANDED RACE":
"PARVENU" (V47-106), Alan Veenstra and 9 year old daughter, Latham - 1 st in
Class!
1993 - ARC ATLANTIC RALLY FOR CRUISERS:
FILLYJONK" (V42RS-102), Johan Lindblom Family finish 2nd in Class and
10th out of 97 boats.
1993 - CARIBBEAN 1500:
"CULMINATION" (V40-286), Roy Belew and Trish Leonard 2nd in Class.
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