I owned 1372 from new (1980) till 1991. I sailed her in 1989 from the Clyde, down the Irish Sea, round Land's End, up Channel, across the Thames Estuary to Burnham-on -Crouch. I would not have contemplsted this in any other 23 1/2 ft yacht. Well built and a great sailer. Residual stump between fin and skeg gives excellent directional stability whilst turning on a sixpence. Drawbacks as noted in other reviews are low headroom (but her lines look elegant!!!) and having to lift outboard over stern. I would recommend anyone to use no more than a 4hp outboard - she doesn't need more if calm - otherwise, get these sails up. Also I immediately replaced the single speed Lemar 8 winches for Lewmar 16 2-speed. The sprayhood is excellent - if it is missing, get one made. Watch out for Proctor mast design with lower shrouds going through triangular cutout in mast wall to fit onto spreader bar and upper shrouds going through cut out at top of mast to be secured by large pin through mast head fitting. A talurit splice failed on my cap shroud and the mast folded at the spreaders. Mast was rebuilt by Proctor with new mid section and all shrouds roll swaged and proper tangs fitted to mast. they acknowledged original design had weaknesses.
One of the unsung greats of small boats. Owned mine for 5 years, then sold it for a 32footer and repented since. Although a 23ft fin-keeler, the Viggen tracks remarkably well, because of a small ridge joining keel to rudder skeg, which breaks up cross-flow under the cockpit. When reaching, she leans gently until stiffening up at 10-15 degree of heel, after which she 'runs on a rail' and takes a significant breeze to heel further. A superb boat for a small family starting out, very safe and forgiving. Surprisingly fast, will keep up with a lot of bigger boats. Benefits from a heavy furling genoa, with a relatively small main which rarely needs shortening in. The only drawback is restricted headroom, and lack of inboard motor, which means a bit of wrestling over the back in a chop. Altogether a work of design genius, and a highly recommended small boat.
Owned for 5 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed February 2004.
Performance
Safety
Accomodation
Overall Value for Money
this is my 7th boat, after finding hull # 96 in storage and need of reffiting I now enjoy sailing single handed, this little boat tracks very well good enough for running on auto pilot for hours on end, this is my most favorite boat artcoliva3@ earthlink.net
All ratings and reviews are submitted by visitors to this web site, and represent their own personal opinion. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Preloved.
You use this information at your own risk. Preloved can not be held responsible for any damages or loss resulting from the use of this site. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more details.
