viko yacht test

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Viko S35 review: the best cruiser on a budget?

• David Harding
• December 1, 2022

Designed in Italy and built in Poland, the Viko S35 looks to offer style and space together with remarkable value for money. David Harding sees if the reality matches the promise

Product Overview

• Inexpensive for her size
• Deep sheltered cockpit
• Performance potential
• Basic hardware
• Needs refining below decks
• Limited non-slip on deck

Price as reviewed:

First seeing the Viko S35 at the Düsseldorf boat show in 2019, not long after her launch, she struck me as a boat worth watching. She looked as though she might sail quite nicely and also had a price tag (just €60,000 plus VAT) that would have looked more at home on a 32-footer.

Only a few years earlier I had tested the Viko 21 and I’d come away with mixed feelings, so I was interested to see the new arrival. She too was designed in Italy by Sergio Lupoli, whose racing yachts and performance cruisers (including the Comet range) go back to IOR designs from the late 1970s.

I sailed his Comet 33 in 2007, rather liked it and was disappointed that the Comets never gained a foothold in the UK, though Viko subsequently used the hull of the Comet 31 to produce the Viko 30. This move by Viko – taking on an existing design to build under their own name – reflected a broader push by Polish builders to sell boats themselves rather than just act as contractors for yards in western Europe.

Many well-known builders have had their boats produced (or at least moulded) in Poland for decades. Some I only learned about by chance when, poking around in the back of laminating shops in the middle of nowhere in the depths of Polish winter – as you do – I found the names of some highly reputable boats attached to various moulds.

The new-generation ‘own-brand’ Polish boats have typically been very inexpensive for their size. I have, however, often found shortcomings in the equipment and fit-out. Designs that have been fundamentally sound and seemingly well built have been let down by lack of detailed thought, as though the designer has done the basics and then handed the project over to a yard run by people with limited experience of how a boat works.

For this reason, among many others, I was interested to see how the Viko had turned out when, nearly three years after meeting her in Düsseldorf, I went to sail the first boat to arrive in the UK.

The cockpit is deep and a sensible width, allowing the side decks to run all the way to the stern. Photo: David Harding

What struck me immediately was the height of the topsides. She’s quite sharp-lined, but I hadn’t remembered quite how far the gunwales were above the waterline. Otherwise there’s little out of the ordinary in the context of a modern cruiser with some sporty pretensions: a double-spreader, high-fractional rig (our test boat’s was 1.5m/5ft taller than the standard), pronounced chines running most of the length of the hull, a vertical stem, an optional hinge-down bathing platform, rectangular ports in the topsides and an L-bulb fin keel giving a draught of 1.95m (6ft 4in).

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The stern is fashionably wide, allowing plenty of space for twin wheels, and another option is a moulded bowsprit to keep the anchor away from the stem and project the tack of an asymmetric spinnaker. It’s all pretty standard in many ways, though even this taller rig didn’t look particularly tall. It made me wonder about the amount of weight in the keel, a modest rig often indicating a relatively high centre of gravity because of shallow draft and/or a low ballast ratio.

In this case, around 33% of the boat’s weight is in the keel and the draught is enough to place it reasonably low, so sail-carrying power shouldn’t be an issue.

A comfortable helming position from the coamings. If you want to sit inboard, you even have a backrest. Photo: David Harding

Onboard the Viko S35

Hopping aboard the Viko S35, you find two elements worthy of note straight away. One is the deep cockpit with high coamings, which make it feel much less exposed than on many modern cruisers, with their wide, shallow, dance-floor cockpits. For a boat sold as a family cruiser, that’s a good start.

Moulded bulwarks running the length of the boat lend security outboard. These bulwarks seem to be making a comeback and are now widely seen in place of the once-almost-ubiquitous aluminium toerail bolted through the hull-to-deck joint.

Less convincing to me was the coverage of the non-slip finish on the coachroof. Sizeable areas were left smooth. At this stage I normally like to go sailing to see how a boat behaves. If she sails and handles nicely, it’s worth looking at everything else in more detail. Otherwise you have a non-starter and nothing else matters quite so much.

We motored out into Southampton Water, pushed along by the 30hp Yanmar – an upgrade from the standard 15hp. Getting the mainsail up proved to be our first challenge because of a mast gate that wouldn’t stay in place. The gate should be easy to improve, and would need to be improved because the only way to get the reefing cringles on to the tack horns would be to remove some slides from the mast as you lower the halyard.

I would suggest that reef spectacles would be a worthwhile addition. Alternatively fit reefing pennants, invest in some extra hardware and lead them aft.

The sails on our test Viko S35 were the ‘high performance’ versions (still in Dacron), supplied as part of an optional package with the taller rig for a very reasonable £1,750.

Once under sail, we slipped along nicely enough in about eight knots of breeze and flat water, typically making just over four knots on the wind and tacking through 80-85°.

Our speed would undoubtedly have been greater had we not been dragging some weed around with us. A quick scrub from the pontoon before we set off had failed to remove much of what we could see at the bow, and we don’t know how much more was lurking out of sight. A folding prop would make a difference too.

On a cruising boat it’s interesting to see a full-width mainsheet traveller, set into the cockpit sole immediately forward of the wheel pedestals. It’s a feature of which I very much approve, unexpected though it was given that most of the hardware and systems are pretty basic. I also liked the simplicity and directness of the mainsheet purchase directly from traveller to boom.

High topsides are made higher by the generous moulded bulwarks on which the stanchions are mounted. Photo: David Harding

The problem is that it’s just 4:1 which, predictably, made it impossible to apply anywhere near enough tension when the breeze kicked in.

Our test boat had non-standard grab handles and pods for nav instruments on the helm pedestals. They would be at risk of being snagged by the mainsheet during manoeuvres, so owners might prefer to mount their instruments elsewhere.

At the helms of the Viko S35 you have a comfortable perch on the coamings, as you do further forward in the cockpit. They’re nicely angled and you can lean back against the guardwires.

The stanchions slot into broad bases, which spread the load nicely and should make stanchion replacement relatively straightforward. My only concern was that a fair bit of rust had formed already.

A full-width mainsheet traveller is set into the cockpit sole. It’s a good arrangement but both the traveller and the sheet need more purchase. Photo: David Harding

Staying on track

Slack in the steering cables between the wheels didn’t enhance the helming experience to start with. Thankfully it was a simple job to tension the bottlescrew in the linkage, reached via a hatch in the cockpit sole.

The rudder bearings were stiff, however, making it hard to feel the increase in weather helm when the wind eventually picked up to around 14 knots. And although our test boat had the bigger rig, I was surprised by how quickly we needed to start de-powering the Viko S35 to keep her on track: she would round up even at a modest angle of heel.

If you can feel the rudder through the helm, it’s much easier to know when you’re pushing the limits. If that feel is disguised by stiff bearings – and perhaps reduced further by a lightly balanced rudder blade, as I suspect might have been the case here – you’re more likely to find that you have applied more lock than you realised.  Then the rudder stalls and the boat rounds up.

As a matter of course you don’t want to sail with more than a few degrees of rudder angle. Any more means something is amiss. Easing the traveller was a quick fix. I would have liked to be able to de-power by other means first, such as removing some of the excessive forestay sag. That wasn’t possible because the rigging was under-tensioned and the leeward D1 (lower shroud) was waving around in the breeze.

Combined with the (optional) 4:1 purchase on the backstay, it meant that tensioning the forestay wasn’t an option.

Of course on a racing boat you expect to change gear all the time with variations in wind speed. On a cruiser, both the need and the crew’s interest or inclination are generally less.

I would like to sail a Viko 35 with a clean bottom, a folding prop and tensioned rigging for starters, not to mention easier rudder bearings and some upgrades to the hardware and sail-control systems.

Lupoli seems to be a designer who gets his sums right, so I suspect the boat would feel and behave in a very different manner with a little tweaking, even if the standard rudder doesn’t look particularly big. You would undoubtedly have to start de-powering earlier still if you had the 1.6m/5ft 3in shallow fin and the shallower rudder that goes with it.

The stanchion bases are mounted atop the high bulwarks. Some were showing early signs of rusting. Photo: David Harding

Viko S35 on deck

Moving to the other end of the boat, we find an anchor well in the bow. If you have the optional bowsprit, the anchor is likely to live on its projected roller and, with the windlass (included in the dealer’s UK Cruiser Pack) feeding the rode straight down through the deck, the locker itself is likely to be used principally for warps and fenders.

Moving aft again is easy given the width of the decks and the outboard rigging. The headsail tracks, mounted just outboard of the coachroof, give a reasonably narrow sheeting angle. I would want to try reefing the headsail in a good breeze to make sure that the tracks extend sufficiently far forward to maintain leech tension: with a low-clewed sail like this, the position of the cars is more critical than it is with a higher clew.

The drop-leaf table is simple but provides useful handholds and a bracing point. Photo: David Harding

I would also want to ensure that extra deck hardware could be fitted for handling reefing pennants, spinnaker gear, the kicking strap (another 4:1 purchase) and anything else one might want led aft.

Clutches are mounted on raised plinths forward of the winches, but the solid moulded headlining throughout (with just one removable panel around the compression post) provides no access to the deckhead.

Back in the cockpit of the Viko S35, stowage is limited if you have the twin double aft cabins as on our test boat. You have a deep locker each side under the helm seats and a shallower bin just forward of the transom that could be used for liferaft stowage. As on most boats these days, there’s no readily-accessible stowage for small items.

The interior is simple and mostly neatly finished in light oak, with no mouldings except the heads and the rather shiny headliner. Photo: David Harding

Below decks

Internally the Viko is simply finished in European light oak. The saloon feels nicely woody from the gunwales down. Overhead, the shiny moulded headlining inevitably looks rather plasticky.

Despite the high-volume hull, this is not an enormous boat down below by modern standards. That’s partly because the rudder is mounted well forward and the space abaft the helm pedestals is occupied by the steering linkage, so the aft cabins don’t extend as far aft as is often the case. Even though their berths are only 6ft 1in(1.85m) long, this inevitably pushes the whole layout forward.

The boat has a fairly basic forecabin, with the berth set noticeably low down in the hull. Photo: David Harding

If you have twin double aft cabins, the heads is opposite the galley, leading to a less open feel down below.

The extra cabin is a lot to fit into a boat of this size. If you have just the one double cabin in the stern, to port, it’s a good deal larger, extending across the centreline, and you can sleep athwartships. Then you have a cockpit locker to starboard and the heads moves aft, creating space for a small chart table.

Whichever Viko S35 layout you choose, the saloon berths are straight, parallel and 1.88m (6ft 2in) long.

Apart from the headlining and in the heads, Viko have used no interior mouldings, maximising stowage space and allowing access to the outer hull. Reassuringly, bulkheads appear to be bonded directly to the hull and deck.

The aft cabins are fairly compact if you have two of them; more spacious if there’s just the one. Photo: David Harding

Because the saloon is well forward, the forecabin isn’t vast. Here you will find a low V-berth and some locker space for storage. Features that might bug me include the absence of catches to hold doors open (or even positive closure for the double doors to the forecabin), the smooth, flat companionway steps (potentially tricky when wet), nothing to hold the steps up when you need to get at the engine, lack of a crash bar in the galley and a total absence of engine insulation.

It made me wonder about fire-proofing although, strangely enough, noise levels throughout the vessel didn’t seem excessive.

The Viko is an interesting mix of the basic cruisey and the slightly sporty. She has the appearance of a modern performance cruiser, statistics that tell you she should be a reasonably quick boat, and some features in keeping with this, such as the full-width traveller. On the other hand, most of the sail-control systems are pretty basic and, in some cases, barely adequate even for cruising purposes. She also seemed to prefer lighter conditions, and was less sure how to behave when the wind picked up. A performance boat needs to be tuned and equipped like a performance boat in order to handle like one. Otherwise you’re trying to drive a sports car on four get-you-home spare wheels. I believe the Viko 35 has potential. She just needs the opportunity to show what she can do.

Viko S 21 test : Small cruiser in the guise of a cruising yacht

Michael Rinck

 ·  27.08.2024

The measured values for testing the Viko S 21

The viko s 21 in detail, price and shipyard, yacht review of the viko s 21, video of the viko s 21.

With the Viko S 21, the shipyard has built a large yacht in a small format. Just place your hand over the photo above so that the people in the cockpit are covered. This gives the impression that it is a 40-footer. This illusion is created on the one hand by the voluminous lines, which do not appear clumsy despite the high freeboard, and on the other hand by the hull windows. Visually, the Viko S 21 is a successful compromise between maximum living space in a small area and a modern appearance.

Rough weather

Gusty 4 Beaufort winds prevailed in Neustadt Bay for the test of the Polish small cruiser, conditions that can make it difficult for a ship of this size. The Viko performed well, logging speeds of between 4 and 5 knots. The boat was already sailing at the reefing limit. This is due to the powerful rig, which is dimensioned for inland waterways. However, by actively working with the mainsheet, the gusts were not a problem. Although the boat became quite windward, partly due to the large sail area of the side, it was easy to control.

The cockpit is very high to create space for a berth underneath. This makes the position more noticeable when sailing. This is because the rather wide stern and the high seating position create a lift effect when heeling, and the crew in the cockpit is then relatively far above the water. But that's not a bad thing, the cockpit is a good place to sit. The opposite side of the seat offers secure support for the feet. Alternatively, a footrest in the cockpit floor provides support. Backrests are also available as an option: The padded cylindrical supports are simply inserted into the flat coaming; they can be removed just as quickly and stowed below deck. This is useful when, for example, the gennaker is set - then the otherwise cosy backrests are in the way of the sheets. Without cushions, the crew can also sit comfortably on the high edge.

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Thanks to the elevated seating position and thus the relatively large distance to the waterline, sailors on the Viko S 21 are also spared splash water as far as possible. The boat is steered using a stainless steel tube tiller. This has a large round handle like on a training boat or larger older regatta yachts. The mainsheet is guided in the cockpit and is within easy reach. The headsheets are operated with winches on the superstructure roof. The 7-piece Lewmar winch on the port side is not self-tailing, and there is a cleat on the companionway bulkhead. On the starboard side, however, there is a selftailer, as this winch is also used for hauling up the keel.

The concept of the boat is clear, André Hochfeld from Yachthandel Hamburg explains: "The Viko S 21 is aimed at families, not regatta or single-handed sailors. The boat is also designed for beginners and offers a phenomenal amount of space below deck for a length of 6.50 metres." In addition, the entry-level price of 22,990 euros is unbeatably favourable. A point that still needs to be checked.

Two rooms, kitchen, bathroom

The way down the companionway into the cabin is impressive. There are four steps to take, it's a metre down until you reach the saloon floor. Once again, you get the feeling that you are actually missing three metres of hull length, because this is a large yacht that has been shortened slightly. Just below deck, it becomes clear how high the sides are. Even though at 1.65 metres there is still no headroom, the feeling of space for a boat 21 feet long is impressive.

The berth in the bow is not partitioned off, everything is open. The transverse bunk under the cockpit is also easily accessible if you push past the pantry block. The companionway steps can be easily removed to create more space. The saloon table houses the retractable keel, which is 1.40 metres deep. And it's hard to believe: there is even a toilet room. At 80 centimetres long, 90 centimetres wide and 148 centimetres high, it is not particularly voluminous. But on this size of boat, it's the presence that counts. And with a small porthole, it is even possible to ventilate.

In the rest of the interior, this is done via the porthole and companionway. The hull windows also allow plenty of light to penetrate downwards. In the tested version of the Viko S 21, the front hull windows are real, while the aft ones are glued to the hull. However, real windows are also available as an option. The hull is a polyester full laminate with an inner shell. This extends to the waterline. The deck is a sandwich with a foam core. The workmanship looks good, there are no visible defects. The woodwork in the saloon also makes a good impression.

Scarce standard equipment

Like the hull windows and the mahogany decor on the saloon floor, upholstery, lighting, fresh water, a cooker, the separate toilet room and the lifting keel come on board as options; a swivelling keel hangs under the hull as standard. Compared to the extremely favourable entry-level price, these extras seem expensive. However, Flexiteak, Torqeedo, Furlex and the like are branded products that appear on the accessories list at a fair price.

There is ample storage space for luggage under the bow berth. There is also an open space with a sling rail in the foredeck for equipment that can be reached quickly. Behind the aft berth, there is a very large storage space in the stern, which extends across the width of the boat of 2.50 metres. The flexible tank under the bunk holds 40 litres of fresh water for the sink. There is also space for kitchen utensils in the galley block. At 120 x 60 centimetres, the saloon table is large enough for four people. On deck, fenders and lines are stowed in the starboard locker and in the anchor locker.

Back on deck, it turns out that the wind has dropped a little - the ideal moment to unpack the gennaker. The 26 square metres of cloth are led to the bowsprit made of solid laminate using a jib line. This also functions as a step and is an option. Although the wind lets us down a little, we log 4.5 knots. When the longed-for gust comes, the clamp on the jib line tears from the superstructure roof. The two screws had hardly any grip in the laminate, they should be bolted through better - the shipyard must improve this point. The argument that the boat is intended for inland waters doesn't hold water here. After all, it is well known that pressure and gusts can sometimes occur there.

The design for less windy areas is also reflected in the rather generously dimensioned sail area. In relation to the weight of the boat, this results in a sail load factor of 4.9, which actually indicates a very sporty boat, but the Viko S 21 is not. Because if you factor in 300 kilograms for two sailors plus luggage and equipment, this value drops to 4.4. Every additional kilo has a particularly negative effect on the sailing characteristics in relation to the light boat. This is probably also where the greatest danger lurks: As there is a lot of space and storage space available below deck, it will be utilised and the boat will be overloaded.

The mast base is foldable, so the rig can be laid down easily

On a half-wind course we log well over 5 knots, here the Viko S 21 sails very upright again. The ballast of 300 kilograms provides a lot of righting moment. In addition, the wide hull with a flat underwater hull already provides a lot of initial stability. The harbour rigidity, which is important for small boats, is noticeable from the very first step on board.

Shortly before entering the harbour, the sails are recovered and everything is redirected into the cockpit. The battened mainsail falls into the lazy jacks. The Torqeedo is simply folded down and comes to life with a slight turn of the tiller. It can be reached from the cockpit while seated. This means that a manoeuvre in a confined space can be supported by carrying the drive and turning almost on the spot.

The trailer is already waiting under the crane, the Viko S 21 is to go directly to the customer. Before that, the mast has to be laid and the keel raised. With the small 7 mm winch, this is a feat of strength, but in the end it goes off without a hitch. All that needs to be done is to remove a cover from the saloon table and then the keel can be winched under the cabin deck. The keel is guided by four rollers and is limited at the bottom by a wire stop; this is also the only stop. The keel has a few millimetres of play and rattles, which is particularly noticeable in aft winds and waves.

Then the rudder is folded up and the boat can be craned. The almost one tonne weight is easily lifted out of the water and onto the trailer, revealing two underwater lights, also an extra. The small Viko doesn't just want to compete with the really big ones in terms of volume.

Technical data of the Viko S 21

• Designer: Andre Koschel
• CE design category: C
• Torso length: 6,50 m
• Width: 2,50 m
• Depth: 0,50-1,40 m
• Weight: 0,95 t
• Ballast/proportion: 0,3 t/32 %
• Mainsail: 13,3 m2
• Furling genoa (105 %): 8,9 m2
• machine (Torqeedo): 1.0 kW/1.4 hp

Hull and deck construction

• Hull: Full laminate with inner shell
• Deck: Sandwich with foam core
• Base price ex shipyard: 22,990 euros gross incl. 19 % VAT.
• Guarantee/against osmosis: 2/2 year

As of 08/2024, how the prices shown are defined can be found here !

www.vikoyachts.com

Distribution

Yachthandel Hamburg, Jacobsrade 38-40, 22962 Siek, www.viko-hh.de

The Viko S 21 is a good compromise between spaciousness, modern looks and good sailing characteristics. The price is also very attractive, even if many purchases are still necessary to make the boat ready for sailing

Design and concept

• + Successful lines
• + Variable draught
• + trailer bar

Sailing performance and trim

• + Large cockpit
• - Lots of wind pressure on high dropside

Living and finishing quality

• + Plenty of space below deck
• + WC room possible
• - Pantry without ventilation options

Equipment and technology

• + Very practical bowsprit
• - Small winches
• - Scarce basic equipment

This article first appeared in YACHT 25-26/2016 and has been updated for this online version.

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Viko 30 – tested and reviewed

A 30ft cruiser/racer with a small price tag.

I was pretty impressed with the Viko. She looked smart and thoroughly up to date and she handled some frankly awful conditions gamely. I would have liked to sail the fixed-keel version, because if you added a gennaker and some racing sails, you would have a pretty competitive racing yacht. This is ironic, because Viko is aiming this one at young families starting out in yachting. Nevertheless, she has a modest, manageable sail plan and is comfortable, if slightly basic, down below. That open transom is the only cruising concern.

The choice of swing, lift and fixed keels also gives you an excellent range of cruising options, while that price tag means that this is a hell of a lot of boat for relatively little outlay. She’s a great starter yacht or an equally great little racer which could be cheaply campaigned.

Performance : 4/5 Accommodation : 3/5 Looks : 4/5 Price : £39,000

vikoyachts.co.uk

Polish design

At first glance, her lines are remarkably easy on the eye. With her broad hindquarters and knifelike entrance, near plumb bow and vertical transom, there is definitely more of the racer than the cruiser about the Viko 30

Sergio-Lupoli design

She bears more than a passing resemblance to Comar’s sporty little Comet 31. Closer inspection reveals why. She is the Comet 31. Well, she shares the same Sergio Lupoli-designed hull.

Keel variations

She comes with three different keel configurations: swing, lift and fixed, which makes her pretty versatile. She’s light, weighing in at under three tons (1,000kg lighter than the Comet 31 incidentally), but can’t be trailered due to that sizeable derrière.

It’s stark but perfectly comfortable and functional. Basically, you could go for an extended cruise if you wished and there is also everything required for a comfortable family weekender.

On the water in uncompromising conditions, the Viko was excellent. Under sail she was a revelation. Due to an issue with reefing lines, we could only put one reef in, so were over-canvassed all things considered. Yet the little yacht stood it well and manfully stuck to the task of actually sailing, hitting 6.5kt at times and 7kt-plus off the wind.

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Practical Boat Owner

• Digital edition

Viko S21: Test sail of this highly affordable nearly new trailer-sailer

• September 21, 2022

Jake Frith test sails a surprisingly keenly priced trailer sailer in the company of both the guy that sold it and the guy that bought it.

Product Overview

Price as reviewed:.

Three to six months is the hump to get over for new boat ownership. It’s long enough to take the showroom sheen off a purchase, the owner will have broken a thing or two on board, the storage bills will be coming in thick and fast and many of the boat’s foibles or failings will have made themselves known. It’s also getting towards autumn if you bought it in the spring.

So conducting a ‘new boat test’ in the company of its nearly new owner and hearing what they have to say about it after some months of ownership should, in theory, be much more illuminating than venturing out in an utterly pristine example fresh out of the mould.

It was with this in mind that we met for a sail with Paul Simmonds, proud first owner of Gi Gi , a four month old, Polish-built Viko S21 on the second hottest day so far of a record-settingly hot summer of 2022.

The Viko S21 hit the UK market in 2017 to gasps of incredulity surrounding its price. Here was 21 foot (6.4m), very spacious, entry level family cruiser, with pretty, contemporary, wedgy styling and an aft double berth for the seemingly unachievable price of £23,000 in the UK.

It begged the question of ‘what’s missing when it arrives?’ Sails? Winches? Berth cushions? Its keel ? One UK boatbuilder was even heard to utter that his materials cost alone was more than £23,000 for a similar length boat.

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The Viko S21 does come with all those things, although not a lot more, and despite the fact that its base price has now risen to north of £29,000 with the ‘comfort pack’ and keel featured here, it’s still, undeniably, a lot of boat for the money.

It also swims in a pond with not very much competition. If you don’t particularly want a ‘modern gaffer’, but you want a four-berth sailing cruiser for short passages, overnighting, trailer sailing and perhaps a little informal club racing, but you don’t want to buy secondhand, there is not a lot out there.

I’m a Swift 18 owner, and have asked myself many times over the years why well-packaged little four-berth cruisers that you could have a hoot in for a week on the Norfolk Broads with a small family, simply aren’t made any more. The answer the boatbuilding industry always gave me was value for money, or lack of it.

It seems that small boats need to be sold for very nearly as much as medium sized boats, and if you think about it that does stand to reason. The fittings count is nearly the same, so the savings are really just a few bucket loads of resin and a bit less aluminium, stainless steel and Dacron, making a 20ft boat look exceptionally pricey next to a 30 foot boat that’s additionally capable of much more usable passage speeds.

Could the little Viko S21 be one answer to this conundrum, I wondered? Could it, through the wheeze of eastern European volume manufacturing, unlock the joys of reasonably priced, small boat family adventures to those who were beginning to think that all those capers had died with the Millennium Bug?

All photos: Jake Frith

Three keels: Three boats

The Viko S21 is available with a lifting flat steel-hinged centreplate keel as standard, but for an additional £1,290, buyers can opt for the fixed bulb keel variant, or at £1,754, the lifting bulb keel version we sailed here. These are all RCD Category C boats. This rating is for boats operating in ‘coastal waters and large bays and lakes’ with winds to Force 6, up to 27 knots, and significant seas 7ft (2.1m) high.

So we can take this to mean ‘estuaries and coastal’, and bear in mind that while I’d happily sail this boat to France with a decent forecast, I might have some awkward questions to answer upon making landfall there.

Talking to Hein Kuiper from South Coast Viko dealer Boats On Wheels, the three keels display very different characteristics: “The two lifting keel variants especially are chalk and cheese. The standard centreplate configuration is lovely as a lake boat. It’s the easiest by far to tow, set up and sail. The plate retracts entirely flush with the hull so the boat floats in ankle deep water and dries out flat.

The lifting keel is snuggly supported between nylon rollers

“It hinges back if you hit anything and also makes trailering much easier, and as most of the boat’s ballast is in the hull, lifting the relatively lightweight plate up is easy work.

“But the lifting bulb keel version has much better performance in a blow or in coastal conditions.

“Apart from pointing better and sailing flatter, the lifting bulb keel’s 450kgs also helps the boat retain more momentum, punching better through chop upwind.”

PBO tested the centreplate version when the boat came out in the UK in 2017, and found that, unreefed, it would round up in relatively light conditions.

While ballast ratios are not the whole picture, they provide a useful comparison of otherwise identical boats, with the lifting bulb giving a ratio of 41% and the centreplate keel 32%.

It’s important to note that apart from the ballast’s lighter weight and higher location, the centreplate is a flat plate with profiled edges, so hydrodynamically inferior to the profiled keels of the bulbed variants.

In similar conditions to the 2017 test (13 knots average), I was unable to make the rudder of this lifting bulb keeled boat come close to letting go.

If it was my choice, I’d always go for the lifting bulb as the slightly deeper keel-up draft would be an insignificant price to pay for improved performance, and (I suspect) better future saleability as to my mind it’s clearly the ‘one to have’. On the fixed keel version, while it would presumably perform the best of the lot, my view would be that fixed keel 21ft boats are something of an anachronism as part of the joy of little boats for most people is accessing little (usually drying) harbours.

Not wishing to expend 1,000 words on keels, I’ll draw a line under this by pointing out that the lifting bulb on Gi Gi could not be made to rattle, bang, groan or otherwise make its presence known while sailing, motoring, tacking, gybing or heaving-to. Looking at the mechanism (through lifting a small inspection hatch in the saloon table top), the keel actuates between shaped nylon rollers fore and aft that appear to cradle it very well.

Sailing impressions

Paul uses an ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Evo electric outboard and for reasons we couldn’t fully unpick, despite having two fully charged spare batteries onboard, liked to get a day’s sailing done on just one battery – no mean feat when it’s three miles from the boat’s berth in Swanwick Marina to open water. I actually began to enjoy these sub 3-knot shenanigans.

This boat motors with an EPropulsion Spirit 1.0 Evo electric outboard – fabulously quiet if you can live with the range

The limited electrons encouraged us to sail up and down the River Hamble, which was both pleasant and emotionally rewarding in a ‘post Covid/self-care/let’s not take on too much today’ type of way. The more that large yachts that hurried past us under their diesel engines, the happier these ‘Three Men in a Boat’ all, inexplicably, began to feel.

Once out in Southampton Water the sea breeze picked up with gusts of up to 18 knots apparent when sailing close hauled. The Viko range was penned by Sergio Lupoli, who has managed the design sorcery here of getting a very high freeboard into a relatively short boat without making something that looks like a wardrobe.

It doesn’t sail like a wardrobe either. The boat has a relatively beamy stern but only a single rudder, so I was heartened to see that as the boat heels to a gust, it only requires a very slight adjustment of the tiller to keep it on track.

Smiles all round on the second hottest day of the year

While it’s impossible to say how this would translate into progress on a windier day, I was left feeling that performing flawlessly ‘on a nice summer’s day’ is actually something that some boats of this size I’ve sailed before have struggled with.

Presumably though, once the boat gets to a certain angle of heel, that central rudder in the middle of a wide stern will ultimately get levered out, eventually eliciting a round-up, but we got nowhere near that stage with the wind we had.

Importantly, even as a somewhat jaded yachting journalist, I thoroughly enjoyed sailing this boat for a few hours. It was in its perfect conditions, reacted well to all inputs but was not so reactive as to be fatiguing.

Forestay and jib halyard tension were both a frustration, but this isn’t a high performance boat

With all that freeboard, she’s not an exceptionally close-winded boat, with a tacking angle of around 90 degrees but what she is, is exceptionally dry. We hit plenty of ship wakes over a metre high and not a drop of water came on deck at the bow, let alone back to the cockpit. We saw the high 4s (knots) for most of the day which is acceptable, if not exceptional progress for a boat of this size and type.

Comfort aboard is as important for Paul as performance. He works full time as a carer following a mid-life career change out of the stressful world of IT project management, gets to sail Gi Gi once a week, with his wife, friends or alone and has no more desire than I do to thrash to windward for six hours straight.

In his 60s, boats have been a part of Paul’s life on and off from childhood, when his dad, along with many thousands of others, built a Mirror dinghy, but it was only a visit to Southampton Boat Show last year and seeing the Viko S21 squashed gamely between 40 footers that finally made him consider owning a sailing cruiser of his own. For the first time, Paul saw a boat that looked like “OK value for money.”

Paul has found the Viko S21 a user friendly and manageable introduction to cruising yacht ownership

Something he could finally see himself owning, berthing, insuring, sailing without life changing financial upheaval. Paul had a Laser for a while in Spain in his youth, and has always got his fix of ‘bigger boats’ through regular delivery trips , charters and crewing for friends.

I think it’s quite a coup for the Viko S21 that it has done its bit to swell the ranks of cruiser owners. According to dealer Hein, it’s pulled that trick off a lot, with every Viko S21 he’s sold going to first time cruiser owners.

When I first saw Gi Gi , I privately scoffed at her cockpit backrests. Surely no serious sailor would opt for this £464 optional extra, that would only stop you from being able to sit out and sail the socks off the boat? But a day sailing the boat in 30+ degrees Celsius and I was a total convert, My back was barely off the things and I even began to idly wonder if I could make something similar for my own boat!

Owner, Paul Simmonds demonstrates the comfortable cockpit backrests

There are other areas where some performance is sacrificed for comfort or convenience that bothered me more. The forestay seemed very slack, but was only adjustable via the cap shrouds, so deemed too much like hard work in the oppressive heat.

The roller furling jib halyard, which was also markedly lacking in tension, returns back down to its tack, and I’d much prefer to have it go via a top swivel, down the mast and back to the cockpit like they do on grown-up boats. It would only be a matter of a few chandlery items to achieve this though.

The boat has a 7/8ths fractional rig with an adjustable backstay, and thanks to a relatively narrow mast section, putting tension on the backstay made a remarkably noticeable difference to the mast bend – a very useful tool to have in the box in the event of the wind picking up.

Gi Gi had an optional fully battened mainsail which looked like a bargain to me at £155 extra, but I wasn’t sure of the way the battens interacted with the mast on this boat. In the ‘gusts’ the sail filled out and the battens pulled clear of the mast making a better sail shape, but in very light winds, they didn’t and the batten ends protruded a little to windward of the luff groove spoiling the luff shape somewhat.

The backstay tensioner acts effectively on the 7/8ths fractional rig…

Pulling on an armful of backstay tidied the luff up, but who wants to flatten their mainsail when the wind is this light? Hein had arranged a Cunningham line and a second reefing point to be fitted to the sail; locally cheap fixes that he recommends for anyone using a Viko S21 in coastal waters.

The boat we tested had a transom-mounted stainless steel mast crutch fitted, somewhat surprising as Paul doesn’t want to trailer the boat anywhere. It’s definitely in the realm of personal opinion, but I found this construction a complete eyesore.

The tubing is a little narrow gauge to look anything other than fragile, and it’s positioned in a place where it often tempted crew (i.e. me) to lean on it whereupon it flexed and wobbled disconcertingly. I’d prefer it not to be there at all and I’d make something foldable and removable for a mast crutch if I owned the boat.

The stainless steel mast tabernacle hinges neatly about a pin aft of the mast heel, making the start of mast lowering or the end of mast raising a less noisy and fraught business than on many other boats.

A mast A-Frame can also be permanently fitted as an optional extra for committed and regular trailer sailers. Looking at the narrow mast section, I’d guess it’s an easy one-man job to raise or lower it.

It’s difficult to know how far you’d want to go on the various modifications that you could make to a Viko S21 before you enter the realms of ‘trying to make it something it’s not’. While its ballast ratio is commendable, let’s not forget that it has a lifting, transom-mounted, mousetrap-style lifting outboard bracket on the port side of a relatively wide transom.

…but there were some issues with the full length battens’ interaction with the mast

So on port tack, motorsailing out of trouble off a lee shore in choppy conditions, you might very well find you have propulsion that is at best sporadic and at worst non-existent as your propeller periodically pops out of the water to scream at you.

Because the large double aft berth is so central to the boat’s offering, it’s difficult to see how else the propulsion could be organised, so this will always act as a fundamental limitation to safe, any-weather auxiliary propulsion. Perhaps an electric propulsion pod (which in this case could be mounted behind the keel) could come to the rescue of small yachts with such dilemmas?

There are other things that I didn’t like from an offshore safety perspective, but that are doubtless acceptable for a Category C boat so they can’t be considered valid criticisms, more a pointing out of how things often are with such boats. For instance, the cabin sole moulding is integral to the boat and bonded in – so you cannot access the outer skin of the hull in the main part of the saloon.

The wide, gloss finished toerail area could use a roll or two of non slip tape

The outer hull skin is accessible through the (optional) heads compartment and under the forward vee berth (where transducers can be fitted), but if I was unlucky enough to hole the boat at its lowest point somewhere around the keel, I’d want to be able to pull up some bilge boards, fast, and obtain access to the damage. I guess I could keep an axe in the sink instead, although that would take even more explaining to the aforementioned French port officials.

Viko S21 accommodation

The interior is surprisingly pleasant. The plywood cabinetry looks suitably multi-layered and the open plan nature of it all gives owners something of a blank canvas. The woodwork will take some looking after and won’t last forever. I spotted some nibbles out of the edges of the uppermost veneers, especially around highly used areas such as the cabin table, and this was not an old boat.

As standard, the boat comes with ‘beige cushions in ecological leather’, presumably painlessly peeled from the ample hindquarters of a PVC cow, but Paul has opted for the ‘Comfort Pack’ with teak effect sole, toilet compartment, pumped water and softer chenille-look upholstery. His wife has created matching blue scatter cushions that set it all off nicely too. The boat comes as standard with a little 12V set-up with a fuse box and lights.

Small hull lights amidships let in a little natural light

There’s more space below than I’ve ever seen on a 21ft (6.4m) sailing boat. It’s all port berths, nothing suitable for sleeping on passage, but here I go again – precisely nobody is going to sail night watches aboard this boat.

The aft berth sleeps two, athwartships, and is best accessed after shifting the (removeable) companionway steps. The aft incumbent gets 6ft 3in of stretching-out space, the forward one a generous 6ft 6in.

Forward of that is a saloon settee berth area, that could house a child or two, and forward of that a vee berth that is tight at the bow but does provide 6ft+ in the length department for a pair of sleepers.

Looking towards the forward berths it’s easy to see the open plan nature of the Viko S21

There are a few stowage areas beneath the berth cushions but precious little locker space anywhere else. The headlining is fully future-proofed, ie. it hasn’t got one. The deckhead is lined with a wipe-clean gloss GRP surface that looks smart and like it will take very little looking after. A little table folds out around the keel box, but with only an optional single burner gas hob aboard, it’s not a boat for entertaining.

Paul’s slept several nights aboard with his son in the marina though and for two the accommodation is reported as palatial. Cooking-wise, it turned out that there are still plenty of good pubs in Swanwick.

Alternative boats Cape Cutter 19 From £17,000 (used) A tad smaller than the Viko, and of course with much less space below, the Dudley Dix designed Cape Cutter is a fellow RCD Category C four-berth cruiser. Sails better than some other modern gaffers and there is an active owners’ association. Swallow Yachts Baycruiser 23 From £54,960 Water ballasted and with a carbon mast for responsive sailing and easy rigging, the Baycruiser is a quick launching quick sailing trailerable yacht. Packed full of unique and clever design features it’s built in the UK and a little larger than the Viko S21 so can’t really compete on price. Parker 235 From £15,000 (used) Back in the day, as far as reasonably seaworthy but small trailer sailers were concerned, the Parker range were the boats to go for. The 235 followed the Parker 21 and was built from 2001 and 2009. A 330kg vertically lifting keel helps performance but robs a lot of the interior volume. Still commanding strong values secondhand.

It was not long into our test sail that Paul dropped the bombshell that he’s selling his Viko S21, just four months into ownership. But this is not because boat ownership is not for him, more because it is for him. Paul has arranged a deal with Viko on one of their 30 footers and he’s arranged it at a price that means his time with the 21 has come at zero cost to him, apart from the berthing fees. A recent family charter on a 35-footer in the Ionian has shown Paul how much more sociable life can be on a bigger boat and the similarly stylish and clever packaging, but the larger platform of the Viko 30 has won him over. Bearing in mind the gateway to boat ownership that the S21 was designed to be, I couldn’t imagine a better endorsement than this. From my point of view, I’d love to see a more passagemaking-orientated version of the S21, possibly forgoing a big chunk of the double berth for a central outboard well mounted forward of twin rudders. But it would be more costly, would have lost one of the boat’s USPs (the aft double), almost nobody would buy it and it would therefore be idiocy for any manufacturer to make it. As it is, I couldn’t think of a much more pleasant place to be in 10 knots of breeze on the hottest day of the year and that itself is a great achievement, especially at the price they have done it.