Valiant 40, The Blister Boat years.

[Hillbillybuddha]

I'm seriously considering a Valiant 40 from the Blister Boat years. For those that don't know,
the Blister issue lead to the lawsuit, bankruptcy and untimely demise of Uniflite, and the Valiant brand.

My question is whether I should invest in a boat like her. The blisters she had, have been fix but fixed as you'd fix a normal Blister, just ground out, a thick layer of filler, a layer of glass and epoxy paint. My understanding of these blisters are that they are deep and structural and the repair should have been many layers of laid up glass.

I wish I could afford a nicer Valiant but that's not the situation I'm in right now.

[SV_Galateia]

How do you plan to use the boat?

Around the world...

Local cruising...

Live aboard, seldom leave the marina....

[Hillbillybuddha]

Originally Posted by SV_Galateia

How do you plan to use the boat?

Around the world...

Local cruising...

Live aboard, seldom leave the marina....

Good question. Ocean passages are high on my to do list. I'm in San Francisco but I'd like to explore Sea of Cortez, the South Pacific and if time and funds permit, cross the canal and explore the Caribbean.

As a side note, the other boats in our list are an Ericson 39 or a Pearson Rhodes 41

[Cheechako]

All about price I guess, but the bad resin is in the whole hull, even though only some of it blistered. There are plenty of Perry designs without that problem and they are similar underwater.
I always thought the cabin on the V40 looked like a square box with no aesthetics compared with many of his other boats.

[rbk]

If you’re set in a V40 why not search for a post uniflite hull (#250-ish and up) or a V42 or any similar designs. I’ve only heard second hand of one couple losing their V40 to structural blisters (not catastrophically) but have heard of many repairs that have had blisters return. They may come back much worse as you move into warmer waters. Or if you get it cheap enough, run the sh*t out of it for a few years and walk away, not touching the hull at all. Lots of other great boats out there in that age/price/performance range (V40 is hard to best though).

[CaptWho]

Originally Posted by Hillbillybuddha

My question is whether I should invest in a boat like her.

For your own peace of mind, my suggestion would be to get a professional to take a look and see what his prognosis is. There might be no way of determining how deep the damage is without doing a little exploratory surgery. Things might depend on how deep the current owner is willing to let you dig.

[BillKny]

I looked at one of these boats in the Richmond Marina for a client a number of years ago that was blistered worse than anything I had ever seen It had large deep blisters EVERYWHERE. including well above the waterline. A true case of the boat pox. That boat ended up being passed from one owner to another, all of them attracted by the very low price, but none of them had the resources to actually fix the problem. All of them left their dreams (and a lot of their money!) on the rocks.

Maybe you are looking at that same boat?

The repairs you describe are half-assed--at best. It will not fix the problem. If you do not have the money to properly fix the problem, find another boat.

[SV_Galateia]

Has there ever been a catastrophic hull failure on Valiant 40 from the blister issue, or is it just one of those nuisance issue, some more than others, that has to be dealt with on each bottom job.

[CaptWho]

"Sailing Brickhouse" on YouTube owns a 40' Valiant and they did a blister overhaul on it. Might be worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6sL3RRNEg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p216qliHnY

[Hillbillybuddha]

Originally Posted by BillKny

Maybe you are looking at that same boat?

It is in the bay area, so it's s good chance the it's the same boat.

Has there ever been a catastrophic hull failure on Valiant 40 from the blister issue

Catastrophic? Not that I'm aware of, but I've found info on 3 V40's that have been decommissioned because of the blister issue.

I always thought the cabin on the V40 looked like a square box with no aesthetics

Which is really funny, because it's one of our favorite things about the boat. But I can see why people might say that about the interior. Then again, both my wife and I find the 70s and 80s Volvo 240 sedan charming and cute.

why not search for a post uniflite hull (#250-ish and up) or a V42 or any similar designs.

I'd say they are a bit out of our price range. We could either afford the boat or we could afford to cruise for a few years. At this point, I think we'd be happy with a 30 ft'r if it meant we could afford an extra year of life on the hook.

[sv_pelagia]

GREAT boat! Sailed on a friend's Hawaii to Victoria.

Had blisters; repaired; blisters returned (but less so), with no serious effect on the boat.

One thing: make sure aft berth in owner's "cabin" is big enough for you. It's not really a double.

[jordanbettis]

Sadly Patrick payed a very high price for that refit.

[Westcliffe01]

Well said. Low cost country work is not without its risks.

[BillKny]

Originally Posted by SV_Galateia

Has there ever been a catastrophic hull failure on Valiant 40 from the blister issue, or is it just one of those nuisance issue, some more than others, that has to be dealt with on each bottom job.

I can tell you have never seen one of these boats with a serious issue. This is a qualitatively different problem than a little bit of osmotic blistering that gets so many people in a tizzy. These delaminations can easily extend more than halfway through the hull thickness, and be a foot or more across.

They are not restricted to below the waterline, or to the outside of the hull either.

They are a serious structural problem.

[SV_Galateia]

Wow Bill,

I feel like I just got b-tch slapped.

It was just a question? Thought someone might know the answer.