Buchanan Viking Class

Full specification

Wooden Ships Comments on this Buchanan Viking Class

The Buchanan Viking class was another successful design from Alan Buchanan, one of the most highly regarded naval architects the UK has seen.  The Viking was designed as a fast cruising yacht with shallow draft making her ideal for the East coast of the UK which was Buchanan’s stomping ground.  To enable her to stand up to her canvas with her draft of only 4’10”, she has a healthy ballast ratio with a 2.18 tonne external ballast keel, and a most remarkable hull shape midships with a big belly and a sharp turn to the bilge giving her the distinctive brandy glass shape.  This not only gives the hull tremendous buoyancy making her a stiff boat in a breeze, but also gives the saloon a vast amount more space than a comparable yacht of her era, when aboard it is hard to believe she is only 31’ on deck.

She has the typical sheer line of a Buchanan yacht rising sweetly at bow and stern, and a marked tumblehome on the transom all which makes the Viking a very pretty  yacht.  Built by Johnson and Jago of Southend-on-Sea in 1967 to Lloyds100A1 and kept in class until 1978.

This is a well travelled example of the class having sailed to the Caribbean and back in a previous ownership where she competed in the Antigua Classics Regatta on two occasions.  In recent years she has benefitted from a complete new rig and sails and a lot of professional routine maintenance.  Used by the current owner for an extended trip around Ireland, she has been a very reliable and comfortable cruising boat.

The Viking is a very pretty and hugely capable yacht offering a lot more than her 31’ would suggest, with good performance, beautiful lines and good manners at sea.

 

Length on Deck                 31’

Length Waterline             24’

Beam                                    9’

Draft                                      4’10”

Thames Tonnage             9TM

 

Construction

 

Hull

Planked in mahogany all copper rivet fastened to closely spaced steam bent oak timbers.  Splined above the waterline and payed with red lead below.

Galvanised iron strap floors with galvanise floor bolts.  External iron ballast keel of 2.18 tonnes fixed with 30mm stainless steel keel bolts.  Several keel bolts drawn in 2011 and found to be in excellent condition.

Transom hung rudder on new bronze hangings

2019 transom repaired with some new ends of the planks and the hull completely stripped to bare wood and re-painted.

 

Decks and cockpit

Marine plywood deck screwed and glued to the deck beams, sheathed externally in epoxy glass cloth and finished with cream deck paint.  Deck structure sits on a conventional beamshelf with a strengthening clamp in way of the mast.  Galvanised hanging knees and lodging knees for added strength.

Varnished teak upstanding toe rail on the outer edge of the deck, otherwise she has flush and wide decks making movement around the boat an easy task.  Stanchions mounted in bronze bases bolted through the deck slightly inboard of the toe rail.

Spacious self draining cockpit with a removable sole hatch to gain access to the stern gland.  Port and aft thwarts open into large lockers.  Bridge deck to the companion hatch for access below decks.  Full set of cockpit cushions with waterproof covering.  Canvas spray hood on a stainless frame gives good shelter in the cockpit.

 

Superstructure

Low profile coachroof with varnished teak coamings and a nicely radiused coachroof deck giving ample headroom below.  Some of the Viking class yachts have a raised doghouse aft which rather spoils the line of the deck, however this one was built with a flush coachroof giving her a far prettier outline

Varnished teak handrails on the coachroof deck with dorade boxes for ventilation.  Hatch forward of the mast giving access below.  Organisers on the coachroof deck lead the halyard and reefing line falls aft to jammers and a halyard winch either side of the companion hatch.

 

 

Rig

Masthead Bermudan sloop rig on a deck stepped wooden mast.  In 2014 the entire rig was replaced with a new built spruce mast from Collars, new running and standing rigging and new sails from Westaway Sails in cream Dacron.  The new rig has been properly set up and tested and is now in sail away order.

Varnished wooden mast and slab reefing boom with all colour coded reefing pennants led back to the cockpit.

Single spreader mast with a single cap shroud and twin lower shrouds.  Twin standing back stays.  Roller furling headsail with a removable inner forestay to take storm headsails.  Stainless steel rigging screws to internal galvanised chainpates.

 

Winches

2 x Lewmar 40 ST cockpit sheet winches

Single Lewmar mast winch

Single Lewmar reefing winch on aft end of coachroof deck

 

Sails

Mainsail

Genoa

No.3 Genoa (hanked)

Spinnaker

Storm jib

 

 

Machinery

 

Engine

New engine due to be fitted September 2020.  Details to follow.

 

Batteries

70ah gel dedicated engine start battery

2 x 110ah domestic batteries

Both banks charged via the engine alternator and with the 20w solar panel, new in 2014.

 

Tanks

8 gallon fuel tank gives 100 Nm range at 5.5 knots.  Spare fuel cans carried on board.

50l flexible water tank underneath the cabin sole.  Manual pumps to the heads and galley sinks.

 

 

Accommodation

 

Berths

5 berths including a large quarter berth, 2 very wide saloon settee berths and twin V berths forward which convert to a double.

 

Saloon

Spacious saloon due to the shape of the hull and the generous beam meaning the settee berths are slightly further outboard than they would be in other boats of her ilk.  This gives a wider cabin sole and generally more space in which to move around.

Saloon settee berths having split folding back rests allowing the backs to be pushed up out of the way making the berth much wider and comfortable for sleeping.  Large amounts of storage space beneath the berths.

Varnished mahogany drop leaf saloon table with fiddles.  Very adequate shelf space around the saloon with lots of locker storage.

All interior lighting has been converted to LED bulbs which vastly reduces the draw on the batteries.

 

Heads

Heads compartment forward of the saloon to starboard.  Blakes Lavac sea toilet with bulkhead mounted pump.  Hand basin pulls out from under the deck head and drains into the bowl, hand pumped cold water supply to the basin.  All heads seals new in 2011.

Opposite the heads compartment behind the concitina doors  is a hanging locker and more shelving.

 

Galley

Galley is in the aft port corner of the saloon.  Single stainless sink with hand pumped water.  Plastimo 2 burner gas stove with grill, gimball mounted with an easily accessed gas isolator tap, stove new in 2014, all gas pipes and taps new March 2014.  65l chest fridge mounted under the bridge deck, runs off a 12 volt compressor which was recently replaced.  Ample storage lockers in and around the galley.

 

Equipment

 

Bulkhead mounted steering compass

Raymarine log and sounder

Tacktick wind indicator

Raymarine ST4000 tiller pilot

Raymarine ST4000 instrument control

Cobra chart plotter

Windpilot self steering gear

Lowrance VHF DSC with AIS receiver

Link 2 AIS transponder

Furuno Navtex receiver

Iridium satellite phone aerial

Stereo with CD and AM/FM radio.

 

All over winter cover in two pieces goes around the mast and down to the waterline

Sprayhood 2018

Full cockpit cover 2018

Mainsail cover

Fair weather day covers

Wooden and alloy spinnaker pole

Fixed bimini frame with canvas cover.

 

1 Whale manual and 2 electric bilge pumps.

Jackstays

Twin horse shoe life buoys

2 x spare tillers

Personal safety lines

 

25lb CQR

60m of chain

Fishermans kedge with warp and chain

 

Cockpit table

Swim ladder

Fenders

Warps

2 x 20l diesel jerry cans