Despite Its Critics, The Valiant 40 Is A Capable Offshore Cruiser Offering Strong Performance In Most Sailing Conditions

Perhaps no other boat built since the early 1970s has been both more glorified and vilified than the Valiant 40. Sail America has ranked the Valiant 40 with the likes of the J/24, Laser and Australia II for making sailing better. It was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1997.

Yet interviews with a half-dozen or more cruising boat owners, would yield at least one horror story of a Valiant 40 that was so riddled with blisters it was virtually worthless. You may suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle; in fact, both sides of the story have some truth.

When the Valiant 40 was introduced, the term "performance cruiser" likely seemed a bit of an oxymoron. In fact, the Valiant 40 can be credited with putting the word "performance" into this class of yachts that have become increasingly popular over the years. The design can also be credited with launching the career of Bob Perry, who became one of the most notable yacht designers of recent decades.

Perry was convinced that cruising boats did not have to be slow and sluggish to be safe and comfortable offshore. He also recognized the aesthetic appeal of traditionally styled cruising boats, and he set out to design a boat that was the best of both worlds. In plan view (looking down from atop) the Valiant 40 has a very traditional shape with full ends nearly elliptical in appearance. In profile, above the waterline, the appearance is a combination of new and old. The straight stem is modern in appearance, the spring of the sheer slightly more pronounced than traditional double-enders, and the canoe stern is very traditional. The box-like trunk cabin also lends to the boat's traditional appearance.

Below the waterline the story is quite different. The high prismatic coefficient, low wetted surface area, low displacement to length ratio and long waterline more resemble a race boat of the early 1970s than an offshore cruiser of that era.

Between 1973 and 1984 Uniflite Corp. of Bellingham, Wash., built Valiants under contract. In 1984, Valiant was purchased by one of the company's dealers and moved to Gordinville, Texas, where the company remains today.

Production of the 40 continued, on a limited semi-custom scale, until the early 1990s when it was replaced by the Valiant 42 model. Actually, the Valiant 40 and the 42 share the same hull. The keel and deck of the 42 have been slightly modified and a bowsprit added to account for the extra two feet. Over the years there were several modifications to the keel, slight changes in ballast and a number of variations on the basic forward cabin, center saloon, aft galley and quarter berth cabin layout.

The hulls are solid fiberglass and plastic resin, the decks are cored, and the method of construction has been in line with what should be expected of an offshore yacht.

It is the materials of construction – not the method – that caused problems with a number of Valiant 40 hulls.

Often the Valiant 40 problems have been more severe than the typical osmotic bottom blistering associated with many production boats built in the 1970s and 1980s. My experience has shown a number of Valiant 40 models built by Uniflite between 1976 and 1981 have severe blisters of the fiberglass laminates, some as large as eight inches in diameter.

Initially, the blistering problem was blamed solely on the fire retardant resins Uniflite used. Later research showed that a combination of sizing used on fiberglass strands chemically reacts with the fire retardant resins, resulting in the blisters. This has the potential to be considerably more serious than typical osmotic blisters restricted to areas near and below the waterline. The Valiant blisters affect the entire hull. Most repair attempts I know of have been unsuccessful, and blisters redeveloped in as little as two years.

I have heard of several successful repairs, though the solution is very expensive and the last professional job I know of cost in excess of $60,000. On the positive side, 200 Valiant 40s were built, and less than 20 percent have had severe blistering problems. I do not know of any reported sinking or catastrophic failure resulting from these blisters.

The Valiant 40 has a true cutter rig, and generally speaking, sails and balances very well on all points of sail. One Achilles heel becomes apparent when beating to weather in choppy seaway, though. In a self-evaluation of his own design, Perry once wrote: "The fineness in the bow quickly gives way through flare to a broad deck, producing a very dry boat but a boat that isn't at its best in a steep chop." By some accounts, Perry was being kind. Several years ago a friend sailing a Valiant 40 to the Virgin Islands from Florida reported the noise from the pounding so severe that he couldn't sleep.

The Valiant 40 has certainly proven her mettle as a capable offshore cruiser with numerous circumnavigations to her credit. On more than one occasion, circumnavigation has been single-handed. Her 6-foot draft (5-feet, 3-inches for some shoal draft models) makes for less than an ideal gunkholer for some cruisers. The accommodations are very livable for long range cruising and her performance, under most sailing conditions, is superior to many traditional offshore cruisers.

Jack Hornor, NA is the principal surveyor and senior designer for the Annapolis-based Marine Survey & Design Co. Hornor writes for BoatU.S. Magazine and other marine publications.

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