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VIKING 28
CHAPTER 1
At a recent meeting of Viking 28 owners, it was felt that a series of articles on the yacht could be helpful, especially for some of our newer and more inexperienced fleet members.
In attempting this project, the writer specifically draws to the attention of the reader the fact that he takes no responsibility for any future racing success and/or failure which may result from the implementation of opinions or suggestions herein. Furthermore, if it comes to pass that a fellow fleet member becomes recognizable only by the name on his transom (the boats’ -- that is) the author will refuse to discuss anything further except politics and religion.
In my opinion, the Viking 28 is an all round, well balanced and pleasantly behaved sloop. The designer (Cutherbertson and Cassian) did not attempt six foot plus headroom and so it has low profile and low windage. The hull is well constructed, moderate displacement not sugar light. The entry is again, modestly fine. The centre of buoyancy appears to be at about 55% of D.W.L., beam is modest, sail plan cannot be considered hi-aspect ratio. All of these factors are pointed out for the purpose of warning a crew that tuning a V-28 for racing should be all “in moderation”. It is easy to get excited about “narrow sheeting angles, high loads on rig tension, extreme crew weight position, etc.”, when you read articles written on tuning the ultimate racing yacht. However, bear in mind that the V-28 is your average racing yacht in almost all respects, with the exception of keel lateral area and swept back rudder configuration. More about these factors later when we discuss “on the water”.
It is an indisputable fact that weight on a race boat is bad. It is up to the individual owner as to how stripped out he wishes his yacht to be, but our philosophy is that comfort is good. We may not need an extra 10 lbs of ice, cushions, extra sails that may not be required, extra clothing, pillows, tools, dishes, food, and plenty of fuel. However, this weight is not carried in the ends of the boat while racing. All sails are taken from cockpit lockers and stowed on the floor next to the front bulkhead (75 lbs). The aft cockpit locker is literally empty. The water tank, being under the forward V-berth, is a bad place for weight, and is only filled to the acceptable minimum for important races. A far better arrangement would be a pair of small tanks under the bunks in the main cabin.
The Lesson: a little extra weight does not seem to affect the V-28, but by all means keep the weight out of the ends, and concentrated under or slightly aft of the mast-line. You may not notice too much difference in our normal bay-racing, as the water is generally flat, but out in the lake in larger waves and swells, there is a big difference. As soon as there is any fore and aft pitching due to wave action, weight distribution becomes an important factor.
The V-28, being a one design (and let’s not let this change) is open to very little modification. We have inboards and outboards. In performance, there is negligible difference. I prefer an inboard as it is much more “gentlemanly” to push the buttons. Hardly a reason to go faster on the race course.
To those of you with a fixed prop -- I have only one piece of advice. GET RID OF IT. There is no way that you will win a series against the “foldies”, dragging the equivalent of a small bucket.
Those of you “in the fold” must remember to mark the prop shaft (a white strip on the coupling is highly visible) so that the prop is held horizontal and can fold. To “set the prop before a race” get moving under sail and/or power to at least 5 km., stop engine, turn flywheel so that the coupling mark is top centre (indicating prop horizontal), check to make sure that the shift lever is fully forward and in gear. Before launching in the Spring, take prop apart and thoroughly sand all hub sections with fine, wet carborundum paper to remove any burrs which may stop a blade from folding. Make sure that there is plenty of clearance around the “pin”, and coat the hub once or twice during the season (disassembled for a proper job). It goes without saying that the bottom of the boat should be polished smooth. I prefer a hard race bottom. The leading edge of the stem, keel and rudder must be accurately faired and clean. Sight your keel with a flashlight and look for shadows indicating hollows or bumps. The forward 50% of the keel is more important than the aft half. It is not difficult to work with epoxy body filler (use a proper body file) to develop a clean continuous surface. Check the leading edge of your rudder, most Vikings show a moulded ridge on the centre-line of the leading entry. Chock your rudder to its maximum up position by clamping a split shim under the tiller fitting. Then put a couple of layers of wax paper over the top edge of the rudder, and make sure that the hull fairing has been rough filed for adhesion, finish off by filling and sanding this added fairing to a clean hydraulic form. By doing this you have cut down on a lot of turbulence. Maximum gap should now be approximately one sixteenth of an inch.
Lesson: Spend some extra time fairing your keel and rudder this year and it will pay off. It only costs time, not money.
There are still some V-28’s around with old mast section and original spreaders, albeit not many since most have collapsed. For anyone with this equipment, your first job is to reinforce the mast section, and while you are at it, why not equip the boat with a new set of aerodynamic spreaders. I have a drawing made up of this modification including limited swing (10) spreaders that is available upon request. Basically wrap the spar with a piece of 1/16” Pop riveted in place (4 to 6 rivets). If you are going to use your old spreaders, have a wide base with gussets fabricated. You must take the compression from this strut off the centre of the spar section and distribute the load. Pop rivet new base to reinforcing plate. The same job can also be done using an internal thrust collar and rod, but I prefer the external modification.
