Valiant 40 Sailboat Guide by Hull Number, Specs and Price

Nathan Rothman's brief and the first performance cruiser

In 1972 Nathan Rothman asked a young Bob Perry to draw the ultimate cruising yacht. The Valiant 40 that resulted looked like a beamy, double-ended traditional cutter above the water, but underneath it had a fin keel and a separate rudder on a skeg, which no serious offshore cruising monohull had done before. The first hull was launched in 1973, built under contract by Uniflite in Bellingham, Washington.

That combination is why the Valiant 40 is credited with creating the performance cruiser category. It was named a cruising sailboat of the decade and inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1997. Perry kept refining the boat, with three keel versions developed with Dave Vacanti, and later boats are a little stiffer and faster than the early ones.

Fin keel and skeg on a 34 foot waterline

The boat measures 39 feet 11 inches overall on a 34 foot waterline, with 12 feet 4 inches of beam. Displacement is 22,500 pounds with 7,700 pounds of external lead, a displacement to length ratio of about 255, far lighter than the Westsail and Tayana generation. Sail area is about 772 square feet, a sail area to displacement ratio a little over 15, and hull speed is close to 7.8 knots.

The capsize screening number is about 1.75 and the comfort ratio about 34. The external lead is bolted with stainless steel. The skeg is a steel weldment inside a foam-filled fiberglass shell, and the 1.75 inch stainless rudder post runs in three bearings. Standard draft is 6 feet, with shoal versions available.

Read the hull number before anything else

No other boat in this class has its value so clearly tied to a production range. In 1976 the builder began using a fire-retardant resin sold as Hetron, originally developed to military specifications. Research later pointed to a reaction between the sizing on the glass strands and the fire-retardant resin. The result was severe non-osmotic blistering, some blisters as large as 10 inches across, on the hull, deck and cabin house of boats built between 1976 and 1981.

Lawsuits followed, and the episode helped push production to Texas. Rich Worstell, a successful Valiant dealer, bought the company in 1984 and moved the operation to Lake Texoma, switching to 100 percent isophthalic resin and matching gelcoat, about 21 mils of epoxy barrier coat below the waterline and Imron paint on the topsides.

• Hulls 101 to 119 (1973 to 1975): pre-Hetron boats, generally sound
• Hulls 120 to 249 (1976 to 1981): fire-retardant resin, blister history
• Hulls 250 to 266 (1981 to 1984): non fire-retardant resin, no blister issue
• Hulls 267 to 300 (1985 to 1992): Texas-built, isophthalic resin and epoxy barrier coat

The ocean miles behind the reputation

The Valiant 40 earned its name the hard way. Hull 107, Foreign Affair, took Bill and Mary Black around the world between 1975 and 1979. Francis Stokes sailed hull 122, Mooneshine, in the 1976 OSTAR to become the first American monohull finisher, and repeated the feat in 1980. Dan Byrne completed the 1982 to 1983 BOC Challenge in hull 101, Fantasy, and Mark Schrader sailed a Valiant 40 solo around the world in 1983.

Schrader later wrote that in over 30,000 miles of singlehanded sailing he never had to worry about the integrity of his boat. Patrick Childress, a devoted Valiant 40 owner and longtime Practical Sailor contributor, circumnavigated with his wife Rebecca and taught a generation of cruisers practical seamanship. Few production boats can point to that kind of record.

160-mile days, and a weakness in steep chop

On passage the Valiant 40 is quick for a cruiser. Cruising World reported consistent 165 mile days without demanding much from the crew, with typical speeds of 6.5 to 7.5 knots in a breeze. John Kretschmer has logged consecutive 160 mile days on a beam reach and praised its balanced helm in gales.

Its weak point is a steep, short chop to windward, where the beamy double-ended hull can pound and slow down. On reaches and broad reaches in heavy air it is powerful. The cutter rig puts the mast well aft, leaving a manageable mainsail of about 306 square feet and a large foretriangle. The staysail can be set or struck quickly, so the boat sails as either a sloop or a cutter.

Under power the easily driven hull makes about 6 knots at 2,400 rpm in flat water with the Volvo 2003 Turbo Practical Sailor tested, and fuel is 90 gallons in a single aluminum tank or 110 gallons in twin saddle tanks on boats with the generator option, and it handles well in tight quarters for a long-keel-era cruiser.

Two interiors, and the one offshore sailors prefer

Most boats have the traditional layout: V-berths forward, head to port, settees on both sides of the saloon with optional pilot berths, a drop-leaf dinette, a U-shaped galley aft to port with a four-burner stove, a large chart table to starboard and a double stateroom aft. Headroom is about 6 feet 2 inches throughout and the hull is lined with half-inch closed-cell foam above the waterline.

The alternative layout moves a quarter berth beside the companionway, puts the head where it is easier to reach from the cockpit, and turns the forepeak into a sail locker. For offshore sailing it is the better boat: the off-watch sleeps near the cockpit where motion is least, and wet gear stays out of the saloon. Finishes were oiled teak or white Formica with teak trim.

Systems that age out on a 35 to 50 year old Valiant

Even good hulls need attention to equipment. Aluminum water and fuel tanks aged poorly on early boats and many have been replaced. Early chainplates were undersized, and the subdeck around them can delaminate where water got in. Some boats were ordered with optional rod rigging, which needs inspection by a rigger who knows rod terminals.

Practical Sailor criticized the bronze seacocks threaded directly onto through-hulls, the small standard bilge pump, a PVC chain pipe that jams, staysail winches that block a dodger, and a mast-base reefing setup that sends crew forward. Engines over the years came from Westerbeke, Perkins and Volvo, including a 42 hp Volvo turbo on some later boats. A naturally aspirated four-cylinder of about 100 cubic inches is the preferred repower.

From Valiant 40 to Valiant 42

Worstell's Texas boats were semi-custom, with buyers invited to the factory several times during the build. In 1992 the 40 gave way to the Valiant 42, with a new deck, new keel and more ballast, and three interior choices. The 42 stayed in production until the company closed in 2011.

If your budget reaches a late Valiant 42, it is the more refined boat. If it does not, a well-documented Texas-built 40 delivers most of the same sailing and almost all of the reputation for less money.