Victoria 30

[grimmy]

I'm thinking about buying a Victoria 30, has anyone got any thoughts, observations, experiences or information about their performance and handling?
I can't seem to trace a boat test in any of the sailing mags. I understand that the
build quality could be a bit variable particularly during the period when Victoria
Yachts were having problems. I would be most grateful for any useful information.

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[DavidBolger]

Can't help I am afraid but when I was looking for a boat I had the Victoria on my list but ended up with a Sadler as I found they were similar and there is a lot of info available about them. Check out www.sadlerandstarlightowners.co.uk. (Sorry I don't know how to do the blue link thing!).

regards


David

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[longjohnsadler]

Have sailed a bit in a Victoria 34 and that is a well built, capable boat that will go anywhere, and I've no reason to doubt the 30 isn't similar. They have a bit of a reputation for being dependable but a bit sluggish, but if you're not racing, so what?
They are not cheap however, and like the previous reply, I have a Sadler which is cheaper and also has a very good reputation...

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[grimmy]

Thanks for that reply, I have sailed on a couple of Sadlers and almost bought one
before I settled on my previous boat a Westerly. They are very nice boats but I
like the idea of a long keel boat.

regards Grimmy

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[VicS]

The Victoria 30 was reviewed by Rodger Witt in PBO 204, Dec1983

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>Ne te confundant illegitimi.</font color=purple>

 

[PaulJ]

I have a friend who has one in which I have been out a few times. The most I have been out in was about a Force 6 which it handled with no problem at all. It is lousy going astern, but then all long-keeled boats are. The interior is comfortable if perhaps a little cramped by today's standards but overall the boat has a good safe feel about it and I like it a lot. If I was in the market for something of that ilk I would have no qualms about buying one.

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[DavidBolger]

If you like Sadler but would prefer a long keel, then the Contessa 32 is your boat.

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[longjohnsadler]

Re: Contessa 32

'Big money' for often what looks like a very old boat.
<If you like a Sadler but would prefer a long keel>, I'd go for the Victoria.

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[Twister_Ken]

Co 32 not a long keeler

Not in the sense that a Victoria 30 or a Twister is, anyway.

Co 32

Twister


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Re: on the basis

That James Jermain's A_Z of second hand boats is up to the Vancouvers, the victoria may be in next months YM

<hr width=100% size=1>I thought it was the London International Guinness Show with a Boat tent

 

[Aeolus_IV]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

Ken,

Hadn't realised your Twister was so small /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

On the subject of long keels though, I'd suggest that older long fin and skeg boats provide nearly all the benefits of a long keel with a little more speed and better handling under power and would be worth considering.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://home.btconnect.com/jeff.penfold/AeolusIVPlan.jpg>Aeolus</A> is a 1973 32 footer, as an example.

Regards, Jeff.

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[Chris_Robb]

or even a seacracker 33 - Great Van de Stadt design with long keel characteristics. Built like a brick SH - but great sailers
for further info try <A target="_blank" HREF=http://seacracker.org>http://seacracker.org</A>


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[Aeolus_IV]

One of these is for sale in YM, saw a reference to it on SB or PBO forums - this is a lovely looking boat from the photo..

Jeff.

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[Twister_Ken]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

And very nice she looks too.

Surprise me, who was she designed by?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[Aeolus_IV]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

Mr Holman and Mr Pye, of course.

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[Twister_Ken]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

Gosh. Astonishing. Wotta coincidence.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[Aeolus_IV]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

I have a sneaky idea that you knew the answer already - I wonder if Mr Holman designed any other yachts of note? Wasn't the Twizzler ... no, Twister one of his? He seems to have had a eye for a pretty boat.

/forums/images/icons/smile.gif 'nuf said I think.

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[longjohnsadler]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

Excuse me for being pedantic, bot the Co32 was designed by David Sadler, who also designed another very fine boat....

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[sailorman]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

NO NO NO !!!!!!
Mr Kim Holman sole designer & Gentleman

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[sailorman]

Re: Co 32 not a long keeler

designed>
north sea 24
twister
rustler 31,36
his own boat phialie
Stella:

The Stella One-Design has been around for forty years, and has been revived as a class on the Thames Estuary after years in the doldrums. WM Nixon traces the story of an East Coast star.

When CR KIM Holman set up shop as a yacht designer in the mid-1950s, it was in Essex that he put up his shingle, with the firm of Holman & Pye still located in West Mersea. Holman was someone with his own clearcut ideas. He may have accepted briefs from owners, but by the time the new boat appeared, she carried the unmistakable Holman imprint.

One such owner was AE 'Dickie' Bird, Commodore of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham-on-Crouch. In 1959, he asked Holman if he could design something like a Folkboat, but slightly bigger and with extra comfort in the accommodation to appeal to Thames Estuary sailors.

Holman quickly sketched out a 20ft (6m) waterline, 25ft 9in (7.9m) LOA, sloop which may have borne a superficial resemblance to the Folkboat, but on the drawing board already had a character of her own.

The validity of the concept took off like wildfire. The idea was to create exceptional value for money, and it was reckoned this could be achieved by clinker construction with a simple coachroof, the target price being £1,100 excluding sails. Sonny Cole and George French of boatbuilders Tucker Brown in Burnham built the prototype, Bird's La Vie en Rose, in time for Burnham Week. During a visit to the pub, he asked Kim Holman what the new class should be called. The designer spotted a familiar beer mat with a star, and suggested they call her the Stella.

La Vie en Rose, Stella OD No1, made her debut at the 1959 Burnham Week. Racing in the Handicap Cruiser Class B2, she won all seven races. She did it so convincingly that other competitors queried her rating. This was a bit upsetting at the time, but in the end it added to favourable publicity. For no matter which way they sliced the rating, it was still right.
Orders poured in. Sonny Cole and George French could only promise a dozen Stellas a year and additional builders were sought to cope with the demand.

By the mid 1960s Burnham Week had wall-to-wall Stella racing as a matter of course, with fleets regularly topping the 40 mark. The promise of a good showing under the RORC rule was also borne out, with the Stellas establishing a remarkable offshore record both in the Estuary and racing across the North Sea. With her good handling characteristics and proven sea-keeping ability, the Stella has made some fine voyages and extended cruises.

There was a period when Stellas went into decline, with the class association becoming dormant during the late-1980s and early-1990s. From being Burnham Week's biggest one-design fleet, they were reduced to just two or three boats in the classics division. But Stellas were showing new signs of life by the mid-1990s and several new owners set about the task of restoring neglected examples.

'Restoration' is scarcely the word for this second coming of the Stellas, for contemporary skills and techniques in classic boat maintenance mean that the top boats which were lining up for the class's 40th birthday party at Burnham Week 99 are probably in better order than they've ever been.

This 'personable' little boat, as she was so accurately described in the very first review in Yachts & Yachting in October 1959, is a telling reminder that for profound pleasure afloat, you don't necessarily need the newest or the fastest boat around. On the contrary, all you need is a pretty boat of real integrity and good manners, a boat that's comfortable with herself and in harmony with her surroundings. You find all this with the Stella.

Star qualities
Long life?
Building of the Stellas continued until 1972. The last one to be built was registered as No110.

Stella down under?
Notoriety of La Vie en Rose reached Sydney, Australia, and 15 Stellas were built there as a result.

The price of a pint?
In 1960 you'd have one built for £1,375. You can currently hope to pick up a secondhand Stella for £6,500-£8,000. The Class Association keep a for sale list on their website.

Starry eyed?
The owner of Stella No1 also commissioned the building of Stella No100. Now that's what we call keen.

Star crazed?
No, as they're built in wood. All of them, although a GRP version wouldn't upset too many people, would it?
Problems include the usual ills in clinker. Look out for broken ribs and timbers in the tuck under the engine beds as that's the most common site for leaks.

Dickie Bird wanted a boat like a Folkboat, but slightly bigger, so Holman designed the Stella.


LOA LWL Beam Draught Sail Area Designer
Stella 25ft 9in (7.9m) 20ft (6m) 7ft 6in (2.3m) 3ft 10in (0.9m) 338sqft (31m2) CR Holman














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