Valiant 18

A

arthurbeer

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Hi Everyone, another newbie here. Im hoping to get my first boat, soon, lets say hopefully by the end of june, money and situation dependent of course.

Iv seen a valiant 18' for sale nearby, going cheap, £650, supppose to be in good condition externaly, but the inside looks like its been torn out ready for refurbishment.

Im quite capable of this and enjoy a project, but other than this site(http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_ID=6301) I cant seem to find any pictures of the inside of a valiant.

Iv noticed a few pictures of valiants in some of the threads after alot of searching, but none of the inside.

Does anybody who has owned one or still does, have any pictures of the inside that they might like to post or email me.


Im in the falmouth area and open to suggestions for boats I might also consider as a first time buy, im looking afor a similar size to the valiant, not smaller preferbly. My funds are very limited though for now.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions

Adam
 
I believe that Lakesailor of these fora has one, or recently did,so may have some photography he's done of his.
Try a PM to him.

A Valiant 18 was very nearly my first boat, but I waited till I could afford it, and ended up with my Westerly Tiger. My friend bought one that he kept for 5 years then family growth made him look for larger. Has every thing you need for a starter boat though ,and sails pretty well.
Welcome to the forum!

ianat182
 
To start with, is it this one? http://www.lakelandimages.co.uk/valiant/
(last heard of in Ireland)

That was mine and had been subject to a Customs search before I got it which explained the shabby interior. (They tear linings and cut holes etc.)

Other than that I gues most have had some work done on them internally by now and so getting one in "as new" condition is never going to be a possibility.

Can you put some pictures up?
 
Its on ebay so here is the link, but no its not your old one, I do like the yellow though :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VALIANT-18-SA...ng_Goods_Sailing_Boats_ET&hash=item4cef149617

The inside looks pretty similar to yours though, empty :D except they seem to of cut out some of the berths in the one im looking at.

You can tell im a complete novice, I will be asking lots of stupid and probably obvious questions.
Is it ok to have it sitting on the keels and chocked at the front?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=330428618263

Also if it was in the water and tide goes out would it be ok just sitting on the keels?
 
Should be absolutely fine sat on its keels on land. OK under normal circumstances drying out from the tide too, but this would depend on how sheltered the area was and what the bottom was like.

Although it could be interesting for you to compare with a fully-fitted boat, there's no particular reason you need to rebuild it as it originally was. In some ways I'd quite like the opportunity to take a "clean slate" and design the right interior for me. In particular, small old boats often try to cram an inappropriate number of bunks in when you'd be better off using the space for something else.

Good luck with the project!

Pete
 
Forget that one. Rough outboard, no trailer, leaking windows (not unusual) but costly to get you up to decent condition.
You should be able to get an really good Valiant with trailer and recent outboard for less than £1500.
I sold mine 4 years ago with a good Honda 5 hp and four wheel trailer for £1200.
Don't get sucked into buying a cheap boat because you're on a budget. It works out expensive in the end.
 
Lakesailor said:
Forget that one. Rough outboard, no trailer, leaking windows (not unusual) but costly to get you up to decent condition.
You should be able to get an really good Valiant with trailer and recent outboard for less than £1500.
I sold mine 4 years ago with a good Honda 5 hp and four wheel trailer for £1200.
Don't get sucked into buying a cheap boat because you're on a budget. It works out expensive in the end.
Click to expand...

Hey Phil he might want to borrow yer chain saw :D
 
I wouldn't use a chain saw on a boat again. Only just stopped itching!

Seriously, Valiants are great sturdy little boats, but do need a bit of caution regards some parts of the structure. If Arthurbeer wants some pointers to particular points I'll do it via PM.
 
sailorman said:
Hey Phil he might want to borrow yer chain saw :D
Click to expand...

Lol, Iv got a chainsaw thanks :D

Thanks for the advice, will keep my eyes and ears open for boats, planning to go on a recky around falmouth boatyards this weekend and see what else is available. I wont ask what other boats are suitable, seen the long threads of suggestions and it all seems very subjective. My main problem other than money... is transport and storage, was thinking about maybe living on the boat through the summer and autum to save money, but my corsa, bless it isnt likley to pull a ton, so would either need a new vehicle or a mooring in the water.

Is there something in particular that a begginer should think about, any rigging and sail setups or hull designs. Id like something easy to sail and preferebly a boat that could go to the scilly isles for a week during the summer.
 
you could add to your list of cheaper boats and lightweight towage by checking for a Leisure 17, a Sunstar 18, a Sailfish17,a Silhouette MkII or MkIII,or Caprice.
All of these are eminently suitable as a first boat , not really liveaboards but OK for a weekend say.
There is also the Corribee21 ft, but now getting up in to the weightier bracket, but pricewise only marginally higher than the ones mentioned. The Sailfish has a lifting keel which would enable you to get a cheaper 1/2 tide mooring or take the ground,the only drawback is the antifouling as she probably cannot stand on her drop keel.All the others are twin keel/bilge keeled , fibreglass hulls quite heavily laid-up in the late 60's so pretty robust. With a trailer they would be around £2K-2.5 but maybe no outboard included.
A Scilly Isles cruise sounds a little early in a new sailor's career and seriously more experienced one, and in a 17 footer not a thing to be undertaken lightly.
The Corribee, well that's a different matter,and Nathan Lee of these fora is the chap to speak to about those.

ianat182
 
You're forgetting the Seahawk17 which has a drop keel from a keel stub with bilge runners as well, and can take the ground very well. It tows easily (about 1 ton including trailer) and are available from £8-900 up to about £2000.
I have one and am very impressed. http://www.seahawk17.plus.com/index.htm
There is a tidy one (no trailer or outboard) for sale in the Solent area, asking £850.
 
Also forgot the Swift 18, another dropkeeler, and a bit more recent design/build,but they are in the £3-4K range including o/b and trailer.
I've sailed all of these and none of them are 'dogs' they all get you on the water and a 5knot sail , which is about all most larger boats do on average.
Most use dinghy size fittings and rigging and mast lowering /raising is often in a tabernacle or very manageable two handed.
I think they all have class associations/websites for the finer points of ownership queries.


ianat182
 
Thats lots of information, thank you, I will have a closer look at all the suggestions, when I have some spare time. Currently finishing my dissatation, so gotta put sailing to one side, for a few more days anyway...
I had thought about the drop keel design, but my friends dad has one, and the keel takes up large proportion of the internal space, well its in the way. His also started leaking from around the keel area and the keel use to knock alot whilst sailing. Is this a common problem with drop keels?
I am starting to like the idea of a bilge keel boat over a drop keel, mainly because of the internal space and it can be moored at half tide aswell. If only I still lived in North Devon, its free mooring.
Trailoring is always going to be an issue, unless I get a different vehicle. Would a diesel estate (ie escort or similar) be capable of towing, or should i think about a small 4x4, I can imagine launching and retrieving on a slip way could be difficult in a FWD.

Thanks again for all you feedback :)
 
Sea Wych is another decent small starter boat. Sailing performance not as good as some of the others mentioned but nevertheless seaworthy and with accommodation better than most of the others mentioned.

Almost all home built from kits so standards vary as do the interior specifications.

The class has an active owners association that organises rallies and social events and also has a team of technical advisers, owners and past owners, who can offer advice to other owners.

Th website is a bit amateurish but can be found at www.seawych.org
 
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