A Tour of our Valiant 40. The Bluewater Sailboat. What do we like about it? What would we change?

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The Valiant 40 is a classic around the world sailboat that changed the concept and construction of ocean crossing sailboats, forever.

Here goes…a tour of our 1976 Valiant 40.  What we like about it, and what we don’t..or more specifically what Patrick Likes about it and doesn’t like about it. Maybe we should do one about my opinion about this…it wouldn’t necessarily be the same 😉

For me..I’d like a bigger more inviting cockpit. I think that’s my biggest complaint. I guess that isn’t too bad…

Make sure to subscribe here and/or on YouTube so you get to see the inside too. That is sure to be a bit embarrassing…I am not the best housekeeper 😉

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Bulletproof Bluewater Furling Units that we do barely any maintenance to and they just keep going and going. Not to mention superior customer service. We are EXTREMELY pleased with these units. Even when it was totally our fault when something went wrong, they replaced it with no fuss.

 C420 Roller Furling Unit

 

Our first Tides Marine Sailtrack broke after 18 years when we dismasted and the mast folded in half. The slugs are still good though! We loved the Sailtrack so much we replaced it with the same one 8 years ago. It’s still going strong, though as with anything plastic, it’s on the list to replace witching the next few years p, just to be sure.

Tides Marine

 

Brick House…the “Yellow Rose” came with an early model Monitor Windvane. With some huge number of improvements over time, we ended up replacing the unit in 2007. The only thing that we have replaced on it so far has been the lines. After 60,000 miles and 12 years, that isn’t too bad. In my opinion, it’s probably the single best thing we have on Brick House!

Scanmar Monitor

 

Patrick doesn’t love our KISS because it doesn’t produce much of anything in less than 12 or 13 knots of wind, and it overheats in what I would call about 25 knots of wind. But that is the most common wind we have, and if more than 25 knots, we can always just tie it off at an angle that it doesn’t see the 25+. What I really appreciate about it is that if it breaks, or we want to rebuild it, we don’t have to wait for parts…all of the parts can be sourced at any auto parts store anywhere, for under $30    How to overhaul a KISS Wind Generator

 

Here is the Manson Supreme 60lb Anchor that we got nearly 2 years ago. It has not dragged, even slightly ever. (Amazon has an amazing price on these, with free shipping!)

Patrick didn’t mention the Raymarine Radar you saw, the Raymarine Autopilot that steers us when there is no wind for the Windvane, or the Raymarine Wireless Wind, Depth, Speed Instruments…Raymarine is a major player on our boat, due to the great products they make, and the way they stand by their products.

Lewmar Winches and brakes

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What Worked, What Didn’t, After 11 years…on Bluewater Cruising Sailboat Brick House