Vivacity 20

[lustyd]

Hi all, anyone know if the mags have ever reviewed this boat? If not, can we request a review if we supply a boat? I'm rather curious how it stacks up and don't have the time or motivation to try hundreds of other boats myself.
Cheers
Dave

 

[Tranona]

You need to talk to the editors, although I doubt there would be much interest in cheap old boats like yours. It is what it is and was successful in its day. I expect there is a review somewhere when it was new, but most older reviews are not very rigorous. If you want different characteristics (more speed, racing capability etc) there are loads of other boats to choose from. Read the series of articles over the last year or so in PBO by Peter Poland. They give pretty good descriptions and assessments of a wide range of older boats.

 

[mon_ami]

You need to talk to the editors, although I doubt there would be much interest in cheap old boats like yours.

Huh. That cover article on the £950 Hunter Europa this month must have been a figment of my imagination.

I found this old article on the Vivacity on the Hurley Owners Association website:
http://www.hurleyownersassociation.co.uk/images/v20art_lge.jpg
I know you're probably looking for something a bit more contemporary, but at least it's a start. The association has a lot of good information and a discussion board--it might be worth looking there for more info.

 

[lustyd]

Thanks Mon ami, very useful.

Tranona, have you ever read the magazine? There are old/second hand boat reviews every month. Also the magazine has been going for many years so I was curious if there was a back issue with one in. I have also noticed that very similar boats seem to get reviewed quite often which I put down to a small pool of available test boats

 

[VicS]

Thanks Mon ami, very useful.

Tranona, have you ever read the magazine? There are old/second hand boat reviews every month. Also the magazine has been going for many years so I was curious if there was a back issue with one in. I have also noticed that very similar boats seem to get reviewed quite often which I put down to a small pool of available test boats

I've kept many boat reviews published in PBO, including the reviews of secondhand "cheap old boats like yours", and mine but I dont have a review of the Vivacity 20! I do not recall ever seeing one either.

There is no review listed on PBO's website either.

I'm sure there must have been a review of a boat like that way back in the mists of time but nothing that I can find now.

 

[Tranona]

Thanks Mon ami, very useful.

Tranona, have you ever read the magazine? There are old/second hand boat reviews every month. Also the magazine has been going for many years so I was curious if there was a back issue with one in. I have also noticed that very similar boats seem to get reviewed quite often which I put down to a small pool of available test boats

It depends on what you call a "review". Sure (and I have been reading PBO since it was first published) they have lots of material on old boats because it is cheap copy to write a few descriptive paragraphs about an individual design. However, if you are looking for the equivalent of the used boat test in YM or ST where there is some attempt to test the boat and make comparisons with alternatives, this is rarely done on small old boats.

Your boat was one of many in the era that addressed the same brief, maybe better in some ways or worse in others than its competitors. You may well find that there is a little potted history in one of the series of articles that PBO and YM run every 4 or 5 years, but all you will get is a picture, basic description and maybe a couple of comments like "sails better than it looks" or "considered to be better finished than its rivals" - usualy drawn from memory or a magazine comment when new.

There are literally hundreds of old boat designs out there. Some get coverage because they were distinctive - innovative design, high volume sellers or just a favourite of individual journalists, or because, like the Hunter Europa that Mon Ami mentions there is an interesting story. So, if you want to see your boat in print it needs to have a story around it that is more than just a description of an old boat.

 

[kds]

vivacity

Hi Lustyd,
I have sent a pm.
Ken

 

[Ubergeekian]

I have a feeling that The Art of Coarse Cruising - Michael Green's slightly disappointing followup to the sublime Art of Coarse Sailing - is largely about high jinks on a Vivacity 20 called "My Poll"

 

[Slow_boat]

The Alacrity owners websit covers Vivacities and is has information on a number of other small twin keelers. there is also a Vivacity website, based in South Africa, I think.

There is a series of articles on one of the sites about a chap who, in the '70s, took his Vivacity (or was it Alacrity?) through the canals and as far as Majorca. When moored alongside a big Oyster and feeling a bit humble the Oysters skipper replied 'Hell, you're cruising, ain't you?'

They were a very sucessful design, with well over 1,000 made and won their class in teh RTI race. I was amazed how well mine sailed for a small bilge keeler. I only got bigger due to pressure from swmbo and daughter. A great and practical little, cheap to run, easy to handle weekender and coastal cruiser for two.

Not much 'pose value' though.

 

[Seajet]

Tranona,

there is no need to be so dismissive - I would say rude - about other people's boats or indeed past magazine reviews.

'Small Boat' magazine for instance did quite good reviews, an example of which - 3 pages - is on the 'Reviews' page of www.anderson22class.co.uk

Of course that ( A22 ) is a boat with an outboard well, which you also are disparaging about because you once saw a poorly done one, despite the fact hanging the engine on the transom could be said to be relatively crude & unseamanlike !

I am sure any class association will be able to help LustyD, Good Luck.

 

[Ubergeekian]

there is no need to be so dismissive - I would say rude - about other people's boats or indeed past magazine reviews.

I don't think he (?) is being rude at all. There were indeed loads and loads of boats designed in the 17' - 22' range and most of them were, to put it mildly, indifferent. A few like the Hunter 19/Europa and the Corribee have achieved long lasting recognition, a few like the Anderson 22 have an enthusiastic cult following - but most of them have achieved well-deserved obscurity.

 

[Fantasie 19]

most of them have achieved well-deserved obscurity.

Oi - you're talking about the boat I love....

 

[neilf39]

Will be very similar to the Vivacity 21 (650) as the underwater profiles/size/rig are not that much different. See www.vivacity650.co.uk for a review of that boat from the early 70s. I had a V21 for several years. All the Vivacities (20,21, 24) are very solid and safe, if a little on the slow side compared to more modern and lighter counterparts. Typical of this sort of boat from the 60s/70s. There are still quite a few around which shows they have lasted.

 

[Tranona]

Tranona,

there is no need to be so dismissive - I would say rude - about other people's boats or indeed past magazine reviews.

'Small Boat' magazine for instance did quite good reviews, an example of which - 3 pages - is on the 'Reviews' page of www.anderson22class.co.uk

Of course that ( A22 ) is a boat with an outboard well, which you also are disparaging about because you once saw a poorly done one, despite the fact hanging the engine on the transom could be said to be relatively crude & unseamanlike !

I am sure any class association will be able to help LustyD, Good Luck.

I was not being rude or disparaging simply pointing out that to get coverage on a particular old boat in a magazine there needs to be a story. Of course there are some reviews (as I pointed out) but they tend to concentrate on bigger boats. Also the number of boats that can be reviewed in depth is very limited and editors have to choose those that most appeal to their target reader. That is why the simple descriptive listings they publish are useful as they can get over the basics on a wide range of boats in a small amount of space.

On the subject of wells, please, please read what I wrote instead of making things up. I fully acknowledge the benefits of wells and that some are properly designed. However, as I pointed out I was heavily involved in the outboard business when wells first came in and there were indeed some horrors because as I said some "designers" just cut a hole in the bottom without any thought about how exhaust gases would get away. I think the Leisure is one of those not so good installations and the fact that a previous owner has done away with it, losing all the benefits, suggests all was not well (sorry for that). Your A22 may have a good design - it never came on my radar at the time so don't have any personal experience. but just because it works on one boat does not mean it works on all as many other posters here have recounted the same experiences of fumes with their boats.

 

[Ubergeekian]

Oi - you're talking about the boat I love....

I like the Fantasie 19 - it's a sweet little thing and designed by someone who knew what he was doing. When I started you couldn't lob a brick in a boatyard or anchorage without hitting a Robert Tucker boat.

 

[LittleSister]

I don't have a review as such, but Hoskyn's Yacht Directory has thumbnail word sketches of a huge number of boats, and says of the Vivacity 20/21
"An evergreen favourite from early 1960's. Very popular for many years but cramped interior makes her less so now. Sails well and excellent value first boat.
20ft x 7' 1" x 3' 1" (fin) or 2' 4" (bilge keel);
4 berths;
Outboard engine; "

A couple of friends of mine lived on a Vivacity 20 (many years ago now) during which time they circumnavigated Britain, taking three years about it. On their return to their home port they continued to live on the boat even with their first baby, but unsurprisingly decided that was a step too far and moved ashore and sold the boat. A few years later they decided to get a boat again, and had been so impressed by the Vivacity 20 they bought another one, which they kept for many years.

 

[paulm299]

Viv 20

I have her little sister , An alacrity , Fun and easy to sail . Not much in the way of accomadation though . There is an Alacrity / Vivacity owners group on Yahoo Groups .

 

[Bru]

I have her little sister , An alacrity , Fun and easy to sail . Not much in the way of accomadation though . There is an Alacrity / Vivacity owners group on Yahoo Groups .

And we have her bigger sister the Islander 23. A little more staid than the Alacrity and Vivacity perhaps but rather better in the accomodation department!

T'was a Vivacity 20 that I originally went to look at when we bought Brigantia - with every intention of purchasing if she was a good 'un. That example had issues as it happened but even if it hadn't the accomodation would never have passed the DLW test

 

[PetiteFleur]

My first cruising boat was a Vivacity 20. I'd had a small inheritance and after paying off debts we had I bought this boat. I put an offer in to the brokers and managed to get it at quite a discount. I had to do a lot of work to get it seaworthy and sailed all over the Thames Estuary with trips to France & Belgium. It was not good to windward and we certainly had to work the tides to get decent progress. But it did take us safely with winds up to F6 albeit a bit wet(no sprayhood!). Excellent for exploring all the rivers and backwaters of the Thames Estuary.