Albin Vega 1965
Scandinavian countries may have relatively small populations, but boating is enormously popular. Swedish designer Per Brohäll took his time to ensure every aspect of the Albin Vega was as good as he could make it – he even lived on board the prototype. The boat proved instantly popular and sold in numbers that dwarfed those of the Westerly Centaur – when production finished in 1980 some 3,500 Albin Vegas were on the water.
In many respects the Albin Vega is like an enlarged Folkboat, but with more beam, better accommodation, including 5ft 9in headroom, and a slightly drawn-out counter instead of the earlier design’s raked transom. An inboard engine was fitted as standard, although the propeller is aft of the rudder, which can make for interesting manoeuvring in tight spaces.
Despite their small size Albin Vegas have sailed to most corners of the globe. Notable voyages include Matt Rutherford’s 314 day, 27,000 mile circumnavigation of the Americas, via the North West Passage and Cape Horn in 2011/12 , plus Jarle Andhøy’s voyage from Larvik, Norway to Antarctica in 1996/7, when he was just 19 years old.