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Viking Slipstream


74milesaway

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Hi, newbie here who's seen a boat advertised as a "Viking Slipstream 27" with an inboard Volvo diesel, forward helm position but behind this is a saloon/gally, heads and a bedroom. Looks OK but I can't find any mention of Viking building a slipstream model. Do anyone have any info about the model and if it has any known problems?

Thanks

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http://www.jonesboatyard.co.uk/boat-sales/viking-slipstream-27-boat-for-sale-7070.html

 

Viking Slipstream 27 Boat for Sale, "Just Us"

 

Viking Slipstream 27 Boat Specification

  • Length: 27ft 1 in (8.40m)
  • Beam: 6ft 10in (2.08m)
  • Draught: 2ft (0.61m)
  • Airdraught: 6ft 4in (1.93m)
  • Berths: 6
  • Drive Type: Sail Drive
  • Fuel: Diesel
  • Year: Believed 1994
  • BS Cert: 2024
  • Extras: Shore power, hot water,fridge, TV, Propex gas hot air heating

 

A saildrive is not an ideal system for use on the canals - it 'hangs down' below the boat and will certainly hit the bottom / rubbish more than a few times.

Check the draft includes the saildrive and not just the hull.

A great engine (but expensive for parts) I have Volvo 2030's (the same but 3-cylinder) in the Cat

 

Here is a sort of saildrive system on my Cat - a bit 'mucky' hence the lift -out

 

 

 

CAM00342.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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I can't say I have heard of that model before and it may have been a one off. It is clearly designed for canal use with the beam but that saildrive won't be ideal for canals at all!

 

Check that the saildrive seal has been changed in recent years if you are interested in this boat as that can be a big job and is often overlooked.

 

That really is one odd boat.

 

Just trying to get by head around how you would attempt to moor that if the weather is a bit crap and you have the forward well hoods on. By the time you have got to the back of the boat and out of the stern door the boat will be blown away from the bank, (assuming the wind is blowing away from the bank of course)

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4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

I can't say I have heard of that model before and it may have been a one off. It is clearly designed for canal use with the beam but that saildrive won't be ideal for canals at all!

 

Check that the saildrive seal has been changed in recent years if you are interested in this boat as that can be a big job and is often overlooked.

 

That really is one odd boat.

 

Just trying to get by head around how you would attempt to moor that if the weather is a bit crap and you have the forward well hoods on. By the time you have got to the back of the boat and out of the stern door the boat will be blown away from the bank, (assuming the wind is blowing away from the bank of course)

It is an oddity, but I'm wondering if that 'black square' on the fore-deck is a hatch that you can get out off for mooring ?

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It is an oddity, but I'm wondering if that 'black square' on the fore-deck is a hatch that you can get out off for mooring ?

I think that is the ventilation hatch for the berth that appears to be under the foredeck.

 

Would be a bit like camping under canvas sleeping in that berth!!

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Thanks for the quick responses everyone.

Ref sail drive - I had "assumed" the draft would include it but have asked the question as I wouldn't want to be made an ass of.

Ref mooring/single handling - fortunately "we sail togther" as SWMBO (ref Rumpole for the youngsters) tells me but certainly front-helming woul take a bit of getting used to - perhaps a really long tiller from the back? I have seen references to wing mirrors in other threads which would certainly help you to see yourself cocking it up.

 

It's certainly a bit of an oddball but the internal layout seems to be a reasonable alternative to an aft or centre cockpit.

 

Let's see what comes back - onwards and sideways

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If you get something around the prop that you can't prod off from the bank you will have to get into the canal with a sail drive. If the drive hit something larger and hard like a lock cill with low water the drive could well be damaged and it might even break the engine mounts allowing the seal around the large hole in the bottom of the boat to be damaged. It may also make it difficult to pull the boat out on a slipway.

 

I agree with others, not a boat for canals.

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I spotted it yesterday - I've never seen one before and I agree NOT for canal use with that drive set up and likely to be quite hard to sell on again - if it still interests you keep an eye on it as I suspect it will be around for a while and might be a steal in October!

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It is certainly one I don't understand. It has clearly been built with canals in mind otherwise it wouldn't have that silly 6'10" beam but then has the most unsuitable method of propulsion you can get for canals.

 

Not a good boat for Viking that.

 

It certainly isn't one I would consider in a hurry!

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It'd be OK on Rivers and deeper (rubbish free) commercial canals.

My boat has a 4' 6" draft and copes OK.

But then why limit yourself to living in a corridor?

 

If you are river cruising you may as well go wide beam. 

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The marina tell me it's fine for use on rivers - pity they didn't answer the question about canals - I'm now looking elsewhere probably at inboards with shafts but haven't ruled out outboards. Decisions decisions.....

 

BTW - thanks for the rapid responses to everyone - I hope I can replay the favour for some other "lost soul" in the future.

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Re outboards, just watch out for very low battery charging abilities, especially on older models. Its not a deal breaker but it you only have a 5 amp charging ability you need to be frugal with your electrical use if you want an electric start in the morning and a long battery life. Even a small alternator in an inboard can deliver 30 amps plus and in the case of a large one 175 amps or more.

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On 02/07/2020 at 09:46, Tony Brooks said:

If you get something around the prop that you can't prod off from the bank you will have to get into the canal with a sail drive.

I've posted this before - this is what we use when clearing our sail-drives.

 

The 'small' one for the 5 minute clearance and the bigger one for the 30 minute clearance. (or one each if it turns into a 2-man job)

The small one is actually an emergency air supply from a F1 racing boat - to be used when you flip and cannot easily get out. Gives you a few minutes to allow the rescue boat to get to you.

 

 

CAM00441.jpg

IMG_20160924_101301.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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? Electrical "deal-breaker" - very good and the advice is well taken.

Preference would certainly be for a nice clunky diesel inboard (or even twins if they're well behaved - see what I did there ? ). Having just learned about the undoubted perils of sail-drives sticking out below the hull, I can now start having nightmares about shaft drives and how to keep them free of matresses, shopping trollies, dead bodies and the like. Nobody mentioned I needed a deep-sea diver's qualification just to go sailing! 

We'll be checking on how people keep their props clear on cruisers without snorkels, aqualungs etc. - can you hear me humming the hoseasons tune.....

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4 minutes ago, 74milesaway said:

We'll be checking on how people keep their props clear on cruisers without snorkels, aqualungs etc. - can you hear me humming the hoseasons tune.....

 

Some waterways are much worse than others, some of what were the worst have been cleaned up over the years, some which were clean are now full of rubbish and dead bodies.

 

What is you planned cruising area - someone with local knowledge could probably advise the current situation.

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8 minutes ago, 74milesaway said:

We'll be checking on how people keep their props clear on cruisers without snorkels, aqualungs etc.

 

Grownups use outdrive(s). :D 

 

Unlike a saildrive, the leg kicks up if it hits anything when going forwards, but not when going backwards.  A lifting and/or rotating leg also lets you get at the prop easily to clear it.  Think of it as the bottom half of an outboard motor bolted to an inboard engine and you'll be close enough.  The inboard engine can provide hot water and drive a sensible alternator. 

 

The downside is that they rely on having quite a bit of machinery underwater, so if a seal doesn't work properly they let water into the oil filled casing and expensive things happen to the gears.  Parts and expertise are available for a price, so they are usually fixable.

 

 

 

 

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very odd installation for a narrow beam boat.

 

a saildrive is specifically designed as a simple inboard installation in a fixed keel sailing yacht.   it is utterly impractical for use in any situation where the prop skeg may hit the bottom or the slipway.

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Thanks Biscuits, I'm currently watching various videos and reading forums on outdrives - as you say they seem to be a "grown-up" solution but come with very grown-up prices when something goes wrong.

Mr Alan de Enfield our expectations regading cruising areas have changed a bit recently.

Originally we were looking at steel 50 footers with a view to spending a couple of weeks at a time on them in the Pennines/West Yorks area but a recent change of circumstances means we're more likely now to be doing weekend trips only. At 74 miles to the nearest canal in Ripon we're most likely to be in the North Yorkshire to York/Selby area with perhaps an occasional extended trip towards other West- and South-Yorkshire canals.

We've switched attentions from a nice cosy (expensive, constantly trying to rust) 50 footer to a more justfiable (i.e. "less expensive") GRP cruiser and because of the likely cruising locations, we've dropped our original insistance on narrow-beam but do still need to be able to get under bridges and through tunnels so air-draft (cabin-height to me) might matter.

From my side, I'm looking more at Engines (current preference is diesel inboard), drives (I think I prefer shaft but depends on weed-hatches etc.), fresh water capacity, toilet type (can't go just dumping "stuff" into the canal), practicalities like keeping clean (i.e. shower/hot water) and keeping warm heating (links to preference for diesel).

SWMBO wants it to be something that is (or can be fairly easily made to be) clean, bright and "houseproud" and quite likes (but isn't restricted to) those with the aft cabins e.g. Normans, Vikings.

 

Examples we've seen with aft-cabins that might fit the bill regular Viking 26's and Norman 27's and less common Madeira 27, Seamaster 30, Stourport Classic 30 and a Sheerline 32 (oh yes and a Creighton) - all in the £9k to £15k range depending upon seller, condition etc.  There are of course those without after cabins from Norman, Viking, Princess in a range of sizes, costs and conditions. I'm sure different folks have differing views on the various types and we're just crazy enough to have spent the last few nights search forums etc. to try to form our own ideas but f course we're happy to read some more if anyone has the inclination to add them.

 

One final point to the brokers/boat-search websites - could you please add a filter to stop me finding what look like "perfect" boats only to find they were sold last week or they have some stupid drive system that I didn't understand until two days ago - thanks.

 

Rant over.

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6 minutes ago, 74milesaway said:

Thanks Biscuits, I'm currently watching various videos and reading forums on outdrives - as you say they seem to be a "grown-up" solution but come with very grown-up prices when something goes wrong.

 

On an older cruiser with one, it's likely to be an Enfield Z-Drive.  Full factory reconditioning on these is between one and three thousand quid depending on how damaged internals are, but you get essentially a brand new one in it's original case back.  That's quite comparable in price with outboard replacement for a good new one.

 

Any competent engineer or mechanic could rebuild these, and parts and technical assistance are available from https://www.chertseymeadsmarine.co.uk/enfield-z-drives/

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23 minutes ago, 74milesaway said:

We've switched attentions from a nice cosy (expensive, constantly trying to rust) 50 footer to a more justfiable (i.e. "less expensive") GRP cruiser and because of the likely cruising locations, we've dropped our original insistance on narrow-beam but do still need to be able to get under bridges and through tunnels so air-draft (cabin-height to me) might matter.

That's a good decision, in that area there is no need to go for that weird dimension that no one else in the world would make a boat to meet (7 feet) and with GRP, at £15.000 you can get a good (very good) boat, whilst £15,000 will get you a tin-slug that'll probably need £10,000 spending on it.

 

GRP cruisers on shafts will rarely (never ?) have weed -hatches as most of the GRP boats are not built for the inland waterways so don't have the problem.

 

You really do need diesel engine(s) as petrol becomes to 'complicated' and outboard engines won't provide enough electricity.

 

If you look in the canal guides for the areas you want to cruise you will see what air-draft is available and you'll find that most 'reasonable' sized boats will fit thru, the problems come when there have been some DIY additions with no thought given to cruising - believe it not, some folks buy a boat and never go boating !!!

 

If you see a boat you like the look of, post the details here and you will get a critique and plenty of advice.

 

My twin-engine cruiser 'with shafts'.

 

 

 

 

21-10-19e.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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