Reliance 44 Cutter Ketch

[bob perry]

John:
We offerred an optional 1,000 lbs. of ballast on the first V 40's It helped and they were better boats upwind. Off the wind they were slower. The change in the keel shape had more to do with reducing the cost of constrcuitiuon than anything else. We made the new keel a one piece bolt on instead of a two piece bolt on. I don't know the hull numbers but it's pretty easy to tell if I can se the underbody of the boat in question. We did two cb Valiants and they were Ok but people were fine with the 6'2: draft. The third generation keel design was done to make it easier to get dep and shoal draft keels out of the same tooling. The keel changes were all done to reduce bulding cost and complexity and had little to do with the boat's performance.
The original keel had the lowest frontal area and in fact may have been the fastest keel over variety of conditions.

[Stillraining]

John...then you might find this a very good read.

OFFSHORE ATLANTIC YACHTS (World Headquarters, FL)

[Cheechako]

Yes, three 2 minute rounds, but first I'll come by so we can discuss the Irish Rules.

[bob perry]

"Irish rules"?
You are talking to the great, great, great, great grandson of Catherine Neale, one of the first Irish rebels shipped to Australia.
I'll show you Irish rules!

[irwinsailor]

The first time I heard that phrase was the movie the Quiet man with John Wayne.

[Cherp]

I love it when a legend like Bob Perry turns up on one of these sites.

[Solosailor]

Dear Bob, It's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Cry if I want to.

Seriously no offence taken. I have miss used nautical terminology only because this is the slang I have read in other posts. Perhaps this would be a good oportunity for you to set me (us) straight as to the proper terminology beyond the obvious.
I do see the importance of the mast position relative to sailing characteristics. I built a small one person racing skiff called a Swift-Solo (Hence the handle Solosailor. Nothing to do with Hans Solo). Initially I positioned the mast too far fore. What a difference moving 1" aft made. Granted this is a nervous little boat. She planes in 5 kts. of wind. If skiffs interest you at all you can google Swift-Solo. They're great fun!

Thank you for replying to my post. Now I can brag I had an in-depth conversation with Bob Perry regarding marine design. Back me up on this if you will?

[johnpair]

Mr. Robert Perry,
Thank you for the enlightenment. the late 70's 40s might have been, given the sea/weather conditions, the better boats then...

Very, very much appreciated.

Stillraining,
Thank you for the web site.

J.P.

[johnpair]

Stillraining,
The site dates indroduction of the Valiant to the year '75 (was is not '73?) and makes no reference to the original Phil Rhodes interior. Personally, since I would liveaboard/cruise on it, I thought it would be cool to know all the history behind such an American legend.
Allright, allright... may be they missed just a few points.

J.P.

[shilo96]

Okay, I'll bite on the cutter ketch discussion. I've got a Pearson Ketch, wasn't cutter rigged, now it is, so now I call it a cutter rigged ketch, so there you have it, whether it is nautically correct or not. People seem to know what I mean. I guess that is all that really matters, yes? That was fun.

And yes, the Irish do rule...

[shilo96]

Johnpair,

I know of a nice Valiant 40 here at Whidbey Island with an owner very motivated to sell. She is a real beauty. There is a little work on the nav station needed, he has the plywood pattern still in place while he was getting it organized to the way he liked it. It still remains there. I believe he was asking $249,000 and it is a 98. I can check on those numbers to be sure if you have any interest. He has taken immaculate care of it, but the owner is getting on in his years and wishes to go to the power boating life.
If you have further interest, let me know...fairwinds2U@gmail.com

[Cheechako]

Bob, the Irish Rules I was referring to I believe were written by... was it Jameson?

[johnpair]

shilo96,
You know what's even funnier? (and I won't tell you who said that)
The Valiant 40 is a true cutter; the mast is far enough aft so you can effectively use two headsails a lot of the time. I don't, I prefer to sail mine as a sloop with a brand new 140 percent foam luff genoa an a beautifully six batten fully batten main.
Irish Rules?

[bob perry]

"original Phil Rhodes layout"??????
Boy that's a new one on me.
The original V 40 layout was drawn by me and I did not have any Rhodes layout in mind that I can recall. But it was a long time ago. If you are referring to the offset companionway and the Rhodes Reliant design yes they are similar but not the same.
NIGHT RUNNER is far closer to the Rhodes layout. I studied the Rhodes designs so much that it would be impossible for me to design just about anything without his influence creeping in somewhere.

[johnpair]

shilo96,

I believe I've seen the boat on Boats and Yachts Sales.
Right now I am open to all options, but as you know the economic situation is not exactly in favor of "sellers" for now, and who knows what it will be like in another few months. Something tells me to be patient but ready to move quickly, for the propicious moment.