Trident 24 or Virgo Voyager 23

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bremar

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Has anyone any thoughts on which of these 2 are the better boat for coastal sailing and say crossing the channel to go up the canals.
I was completely set on a Hunter Liberty and with my son (who sails) and wife we have looked at 3 but haven't bought yet. As happens while looking at one of these boat we were introduced to both a Virgo Voyger and Trident 24 in the flesh as being comparable alternative boats.
I had thought about a Trident 24 in the past but not considered the Virgo Voyager. My wife likes the extra headroom on the Virgo Voyager and considers it more modern. I feel the Trident 24 is more seaworthy and therefore the safer of the 2 and I quite like older boats.

Thank you for any input.
Bremar.
 
i cannot say which is better but my first boat was a Virgo Voyager when the kids were little. Mom, dad and three kids spent two weeks in the summmer and plenty of weekends. It was cosy but fun. We sailed in some fairly windy weather and she sailed ok. I liked my little virgo and thought it a well built little boat
 
I don't really know either boat, but if they're close enough that one isn't obviously better, then the condition of the individual examples available for sale probably matters more than the inherent features of the design.

Pete
 
As a Trident owner (and Commodore of the Owners Association!) I would say the Trident is a much better buy - OK I would anyway, but consider the following points: sailing wise, the Trident probably has a small edge on the Voyager. Tridents are still winning cups in Club racing, but I do not know if the same can be said for the Voyagers, but I somehow doubt it. where I think the trident wins hands down is in the build. These hulls are incredibly well built, and in the huge TOA archive there is not one record of any structural failure in a Trident. Voyagers can have serious structural problems due to water ingress into the balsa cores of their mouldings, and I have known of several owners faced with major repair bills from this. Accommodation wise, there's probably not a lot in it, and a minus if you are tall is that Trident only has 5'9" headroom in the main cabin. However with boats of this age much comes down to how well the boat has been looked after. With the Trident there are very few 'hidden' faults, except the rare example where the deck/hull seal has failed. This can be easily spotted by water penetration in to the bulkheads at the joint. Be aware that some Tridents were sold for home fitting out: this need not matter, as many were completed to a very high standard well above the 'ex works' standard. However a few were not so well finished, and if you come across one, move on: its not typical and there are far beauties!

With the Trident you will get a sea kindly boat which will look after you in a blow, sails well, and can easily be handled by one person (I single hand mine all the time), and which looks like (and we think, is) a Classic! See http://trident24.com/ for lots more info, pics etc, and talk to owners on our Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/trident24/
 
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Hi,
I have bought a Trident a little while ago and have been working on her this winter... as old harry says there are very heavily built I took the deck pad off by the mast and the glass there is about 12mm thick, now I know the mast needs to be well supported but that's pretty good I thought, also speaking to old boat builders the materials were also better quality back then and they were laid up like battleships... have not sailed her yet or sailed a virgo but old harry obviously knows a bit about both so would take his advice if I were you as he has advised me on some queries with the Trident which has been very helpful, also the association is very active and they just look right... to me that is.
Good luck in whatever you choose.
 
Looks as if my wife is loosing the battle. Yes I like the trident 24 too. The one I'm looking at has a replacement engine a Yanma 1gm , a roller boom but no roller furler. I have no experience of the 1st 2 any views anyone
 
bremar said:
Looks as if my wife is loosing the battle. Yes I like the trident 24 too. The one I'm looking at has a replacement engine a Yanma 1gm , a roller boom but no roller furler. I have no experience of the 1st 2 any views anyone
Click to expand...

1GM10 is a decent straightforward little engine. We had its bigger brother the 2GM20 in our previous boat. Or is this the older original 1GM?

Old roller booms aren't great, but can be easily converted to slab reefing. Barton even do a dedicated kit.

Pete
 
Good engines Yanmars but if you have the chance go for something freshwater cooled, Beta or Nanni among others ... and the wife will grow to like the Trident... got the same project myself so if you get a Trident we can compare notes on that one, there are several Tridents for sale at the moment, "Piplin" and "Resoloution" and if you want the Rolls Royce of Tridents "Drakes Progress", think 2 of them are on the association website, spent 5+ years looking at Tridents before I had funds to get one, you wont be disappointed.
Good luck
 
bremar said:
Hmmm I was hoping the roller boom was going to get the thumbs up and I'm not sure what a 1gm yanma is?
Click to expand...

There are two versions of the 1GM. The early (1980's) ones were actually 7.5hp but the vast majority are 9hp and called the 1GM10. Although seawater cooled they are very simple and robust with only a couple of dodgy features which are easily dealt with.

Roller reefing booms were the best thing when the boat was built and work OK, but slab reefing does give you a better sail shape and can be arranged so that you reef from the cockpit. As suggested you can convert easily. Would be more concerned about lack of roller reefing on the foresail, but again not difficult to convert, but you will need the genoa modified.

Virgo Voyagers were attractive when new because of the accommodation and more modern appearance, but Newbridge Boats were not the best builders, although any weaknesses should show up in a survey.

BTW there is a Liberty advertised in our club, lying in Christchurch. If you are interested I can get the phone number for you.
 
Roller booms are a bit 'old fashioned' nowadays. Personally I wish my Trident had one, as I find them much easier to use short handed - as long as you dont drop the handle overboard! They are very difficult to source nowadays!

Yanmar 1GM10 has been the engine of choice for many Tridents upgrading from the old Vire petrol engines they originally fitted. They are well suited to the Trident. As long as it has been looked after, had an annual oil change and not been messed up, they are solid and reliable. One serious idiosyncracy: check the condition of the oil pipe just below the water pump. If the seals fail on the pump, seawater drips on to the oil pipe, and corrodes it through. All the engine oil is then dumped in the bilge and the engine seizes! Dead easy to check, and to change the pipe and seals if it becomes an issue, and definitely not a reason to reject buying the boat!
 
Another thumbs up for roller reefing - works well for me! I sleeved a bit of plastic drain pipe over the outboard half of the boom - this stops it drooping when you pull down a reef.
 
Seajet said:
Another vote for the Trident here, a proper boat, properly built.
Click to expand...

While I would agree with a vote for the Trident on the basis that it's prettier, a lot of Tridents were completed from kits so I am not sure how you can say that they were properly built. Tinker Liz which was owned in later years by Des Sleighthome was home built.
 
If you wish for your other half to sail with you then whichever has the nicest loo

if, however, you don't expect her to sail with you much - or at all

then the one that sails and looks nicest.

I have experience in such matters

D
 
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PeteCooper said:
While I would agree with a vote for the Trident on the basis that it's prettier, a lot of Tridents were completed from kits so I am not sure how you can say that they were properly built. Tinker Liz which was owned in later years by Des Sleighthome was home built.
Click to expand...

A lot of kit boats are better built than ' pro ' offerings.

I was trying to politely infer, but as mentioned previously Newbridge Boats were famous for their build standards - for all the wrong reasons !

I seem to remember rudders falling off was a speciality, and while that should hopefully be fixed on any boat still going now, it says a lot.

I also seem to remember they were one of the first to try the now accepted business model of going bust and leaving paid up owners in the lurch.

Virgo Voyagers have been raced transatlantic I'm told, well the owner / skippers must have done a lot of work and also been patient, I sailed in company with a V Voyager and grew tired of sailing in circles waiting - we were deliberately undercanvassed and not sailing fast, they had genoa & engine on.

To put it bluntly the only Newbridge boat which I see any appeal in was the Corribbee, a design they took over.

Otherwise they seemed to cater for the boat show ' Oh look it's got a nice kitchen Norman ' sort of buyer - I knew a couple of guys with a Venturer who actually said that was what made them decide on the boat...

The Trident may not go like a rocket but it's a solid, seaworthy shaped boat, I've seen their owners association meets and been impressed - and the owners I've met have been experienced seamen, one I know who has just got one is an offshore lifeboat crew.

You asked, Pete !
 
Otherwise they seemed to cater for the boat show ' Oh look it's got a nice kitchen Norman ' sort of buyer - I knew a couple of guys with a Venturer who actually said that was what made them decide on the boat...

thats not why I bought mine
 
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