Victoria 30, Twister, Frances Victoria 26 or 800 or Vertue 2 for coastal & near-continental cruising.

[glandorebay]

My wise & learned fellow sailors, I'm interested to hear your thoughts, pros & cons on these classics.

Lets assume they all have good rigs, sails & engines. I'm a single-hander, Master Mariner, with lovely non-sailor passenger at times.

Many thanks in advance,

 

[Matwill]

spend a weekend going to visit each boat, i did, ended up settling on an Albin Ballad instead

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have a Victoria 26.

Good things: Beautifully built, looks nice, goes much better than you'd expect because underwater she is rather different from what you'd expect, easy to single-hand, lots of storage

Bad things: Much smaller cabin than a modern boat of similar size, horribly cramped engine access, only one sizeable cockpit locker

Victoria would build any interior the customer wanted as long as it took a standard time, so there is a some variation in layouts. For example, some have the heads opposite the galley, which makes the saloon squarer and gains you a second cockpit locker but loses the quarterberth.

The Frances 26 is basically the same but with a sleeping platform rather than a forecabin. This elegantly means that all work at the mast can be done standing up through the forehatch.

The Victoria 800 has a slightly different deck moulding and a more elaborate inside. Heads opposite the galley as standard.

All were available as sloop (like mine), cutter or gaff rig, though I believe only three gaffers were ever sold.

We might be in Bangor over the next three weeks - if you'd like to have a suitably cautious visit, PM me a number and I'll call you if/when we arrive.

 

[glandorebay]

spend a weekend going to visit each boat, i did, ended up settling on an Albin Ballad instead

I’ve been on. Frances 26 and owned a Frances 34 which I loved but was too expensive to keep for occasional use. Trying to keep the size below 30 feet

 

[Kukri]

Vancouver 27/28?

Rustler 31?

 

[glandorebay]

I have a Victoria 26.

Good things: Beautifully built, looks nice, goes much better than you'd expect because underwater she is rather different from what you'd expect, easy to single-hand, lots of storage

Bad things: Much smaller cabin than a modern boat of similar size, horribly cramped engine access, only one sizeable cockpit locker

Victoria would build any interior the customer wanted as long as it took a standard time, so there is a some variation in layouts. For example, some have the heads opposite the galley, which makes the saloon squarer and gains you a second cockpit locker but loses the quarterberth.

The Frances 26 is basically the same but with a sleeping platform rather than a forecabin. This elegantly means that all work at the mast can be done standing up through the forehatch.

The Victoria 800 has a slightly different deck moulding and a more elaborate inside. Heads opposite the galley as standard.

All were available as sloop (like mine), cutter or gaff rig, though I believe only three gaffers were ever sold.

We might be in Bangor over the next three weeks - if you'd like to have a suitably cautious visit, PM me a number and I'll call you if/when we arrive.

Thanks ? I’ll pm you my number. I’m very fond of these Paine boats

 

[V1701]

From the list I'd go for the 30, the lovely non-sailor passenger will appreciate the extra room. I think both the 26 and the 30 though, are lovely boats...

 

[glandorebay]

Vancouver 27/28?

Rustler 31?

Great boats but hard to get a good V27. Beautiful V28 for sale now at £50k

 

[langstonelayabout]

We too are looking for similar but my crew demands something like the Victoria 30, but with bigger heads. We are now waiting for a decent Halmatic 30 to appear in the southern part of the UK. There’s a lovely H30 in Scotland but that’s a bit far.

 

[Kukri]

Great boats but hard to get a good V27. Beautiful V28 for sale now at £50k

That is a silly price and the seller won’t get it.

 

[IAmCharlieC]

Obviously go for the Twister.

 

[Homer Simpson's Lovechild]

Had a Victoria 26 and now have a Twister . Both great boats with a similar feel and comparable interior volume ( tiny ! )
Somehow , the Twister feels to me more assured - a real little ship with a nice solid feel . Ive been on a couple of V30’s and they have a similar seaworthy and purposeful feel with a bit more space below . The canoe stern makes the Vicky cockpits very tight when you get a few people aboard - non sailers were always in way I found.
Both are perfect single handlers - although getting a tiller pilot to work well in the narrow stern of the Vicky 26 presents a challenge without some bolt on modifications. I had a sloop rigged 26 but lusted after a cutter rigged 800 with a short bowsprit - I think the ability to quickly change down a gear in a blow would outlay the faff of short tacking a cutter.
I’m 6 foot - that’s two inches too tall for the Twister cabin ( although a few have a higher coach roof )
All great boats as long as you can live with the lack of space compared to modern shapes.
All are complete dogs to handle in marinas or astern - they are guaranteed to swing the wrong way into a marina trot when leaving - just go with the flow . If you’re even thinking about springing out of the berth - do it . ( or avoid tight berths )
Reckon it would come down to quality of fit out and equipment levels - this varies a lot as all are getting on a bit now .

 

[glandorebay]

We too are looking for similar but my crew demands something like the Victoria 30, but with bigger heads. We are now waiting for a decent Halmatic 30 to appear in the southern part of the UK. There’s a lovely H30 in Scotland but that’s a bit far.

Yes, the H30 & Barbican 30 are also on my list

 

[Kukri]

Yes, the H30 & Barbican 30 are also on my list

And, I hope, the Nicholson 31. I will admit to bias as I have a Ray Wall designed Nicholson myself. Of course the Nic31 is a little bigger than the Vertue II and the Frances 26 but it’s not a lot of difference in running cost for much better accomodation and performance.

 

[Poignard]

Had a Victoria 26 and now have a Twister . Both great boats with a similar feel and comparable interior volume ( tiny ! )
Somehow , the Twister feels to me more assured - a real little ship with a nice solid feel . Ive been on a couple of V30’s and they have a similar seaworthy and purposeful feel with a bit more space below . The canoe stern makes the Vicky cockpits very tight when you get a few people aboard - non sailers were always in way I found.
Both are perfect single handlers - although getting a tiller pilot to work well in the narrow stern of the Vicky 26 presents a challenge without some bolt on modifications. I had a sloop rigged 26 but lusted after a cutter rigged 800 with a short bowsprit - I think the ability to quickly change down a gear in a blow would outlay the faff of short tacking a cutter.
I’m 6 foot - that’s two inches too tall for the Twister cabin ( although a few have a higher coach roof )
All great boats as long as you can live with the lack of space compared to modern shapes.
All are complete dogs to handle in marinas or astern - they are guaranteed to swing the wrong way into a marina trot when leaving - just go with the flow . If you’re even thinking about springing out of the berth - do it . ( or avoid tight berths )
Reckon it would come down to quality of fit out and equipment levels - this varies a lot as all are getting on a bit now .

I too would recommend a Twister but then I 'm biased!
I am in my Twister at the moment and have just measured the distance from cabin sole to deckhead. 71-3/4 ".
When I bought her 23 years ago my head touched the ceiling but now it doesn't. I must be getting old.

 

[pawl]

For what it's worth this is my view. When I was looking for a new boat I had set my heart on a Victoria 30, I saw lots, but nearly all in a too well used condition. A lot of ex sailing school boats, well over used. I did buy one, a late one built by Westerly. However, the survey found that she had been damaged and then poorly repaired, so I backed out. I seem to remember that the chart table was a bit awkward to sit at. The surveyor suggested that I have a look at the Vancouver range which he suggested were better boats. I did and I bought a Vancouver 28, which was in fact cheaper than the Victoria, a decision that I have never regretted, That was 16 years ago and I still have her.

Obviously it's a matter of personal choice but what I found very helpful was to make up a list of all the essential things I wanted in a boat and all the things I would like. I then allocated a score for each of these items according to how important they were and what condition they were in. The results were surprising, what I thought were roughly equal contenders were not, one turned out to have a very much higher score than the others.

 

[Kukri]

That’s a good way to go about it.

 

[dansaskip]

Pawl's suggestion of making a list of what you consider essential things on a boat is a very good one and it is something I did myself several year ago whilst looking for my current boat. I had a similar shortlist of boats to you but included Vancouvers. I eventually settled on a Vancouver 28 as it had all the features I wanted including decent wind vane self steering and was obviously in good condition and well looked after.
Another important factor that I think some people overlook are decent cockpit lockers to store all that stuff. For example one of my lockers is commodious enough to store 7 decent size fenders plus all mooring warps in. Whilst the other is big enough for spare anchor, outboard, spare mainsail, fuel cans, water jerry cans, boat hooks and all sorts of other stuff. Seen many boats (some much larger and often more modern)) with fenders and other stuff stored on the rails because of inadequate lockers.

Although a cutter rig wasn't on my list, I have found it to be a great thing for single handing and as the wind pipes up roll away the yankee and reef the main and sail with a staysail and reefed main gives you a nicely balanced and manageable sail plan in strong winds. I also don't find it a problem when short tacking. The main looks after itself, tack the yankee and then when on the new tack tack the staysail, it doesn't hurt to leave it backed for a while.

I'd personally consider the condition of the sails of less importance than other things. They are after all the easiest thing on a boat to change or replace and it was quite a revelation to me how much new sails improved the sailing performance of my boat.
Anyway my Vancouver looked after me well on my solo trip from UK to New Zealand and there a a few who have circumnavigated which is a pretty fair recommendation.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

spend a weekend going to visit each boat, i did, ended up settling on an Albin Ballad instead

Sorry for slight hijack but glad you found a Ballad. How are you getting on with it? Happy with the choice?

 

[glandorebay]

@ Danaskip & Pawl , I'm with you 100% on the V27 & 28 and would gladly buy one if I could find a decent one