ALTERNATIVES TO CONSIDER
HANS CHRISTIAN 38
This stunning, long-keeled, canoe-sterned yacht was one of designer Harwood Ives’ most popular yachts. Built in Taiwan, three versions were produced – the original HC38T cutter, a MKII model from 1978 with some interior and rig changes, and in 1984 a ‘performance’ version featuring a taller mast, shorter fin keel and skeg-mounted, semibalanced rudder, called the HC38 Telstar.
Her cockpit is deep and all had wheel steering. Under sail she exhibits a sea kindly motion yet she stays doggedly on course, undaunted by heavy seas. She heaves-to comfortably when it gets rough and her narrow side decks, raised bulwarks and low-profile coachroof make going forward safe and secure.
Weighing in at just over 12 tonnes means she’s no sprinter. However, her sheer momentum and ability to remain on course in high seas means she can knock off 150-mile days with ease. Light airs are a different story, however.
Her encapsulated, flat-bottomed keel eliminates keel bolt worries and allows her
Launched in 1973, the Valiant 40 was designed by Bob Perry and was his first attempt at a rugged ocean-cruising yacht with a good sailing performance that could manage close to 165 miles a day.
He cut away the forefoot of the popular long keel, bolting the lead ballast onto a stout GRP keel stub, and skeg-mounted the rudder for strength and protection.
She is soundly constructed with a solid laminate hull and glassed-in, foam-cored floor beams for stiffness, along with bonded bulkheads and furniture. Some hulls, however, were moulded using a special fireretardant resin, which was blamed for the cosmetic blistering some boats (hull nos. 120-249) suffered. By now, though, most will have have been rectified.
The V40 became popular among blue water sailors with several successfully completing gruelling round the world races.
With similar width to the PC40 and HC38T, the interior was never going to be voluminous, but what it lacks in volume it makes up for in functionality. She sports a comfy aft cabin, vee-berth forward, settees and pilot berth, a spacious saloon, a good size heads with shower stall and an excellent galley with bags of stowage.
Early models had a long boom with end-boom sheeting that proved a little hairy when tacking and gybing. Later this was shortened, the mainsheet moved forward and the mast made taller.
Cutter-rigged, she offers a good turn of speed whilst retaining the ease of handling provided by the smaller headsails. At sea she’s stiff, stable and pretty much drama-free to sail.