Boat in build - little Viking 20.

**oldgit** · 13-04-12, 08:04

"It always seems to me that the amount of fun had aboard a boat is in inverse proportion to her LOA."

Agree 100%....... all it needs now in addition to the underwater street lighting is a nice set of stabilisers

**rr_123** · 13-04-12, 10:24

Originally Posted by Warpa

Must keep a watch on this one, i love the builds and restorations

From the description it sounds hard to believe you can live comfortably on her for any length of time considering its 20'. Look forward to seeing more of the internal work being a trade myself

Without doing a search, is this a river boat no matter what engine? sounds like a boat i would enjoy in a few years time, her indoors would prefer it now

I had a viking 20 on the K and A/Thames a few years ago; it is a little small but perfectly ok for a couple of adults for a few days. It is very much an inland boat but quite sturdy.

I had some great times on that little boat, it isn't big enough for icemakers, aircon, plasma tv etc. but as Oldgit says, the amount of fun is often inversely proportional to the size of the boat - and it was not too much of a shock buying the licence and great mooring between the bigger eedjits who thought they'd left themselves a nice big gap

**Deefor** · 13-04-12, 10:34

Originally Posted by oldgit

"It always seems to me that the amount of fun had aboard a boat is in inverse proportion to her LOA."

Agree 100%....... all it needs now in addition to the underwater street lighting is a nice set of stabilisers

There's a new Viking 215 on the Thames, delivered a month or so ago, with a bow thruster fitted. Shame a stern thruster wasn't fitted as well because we all know it's essential to have both fitted on a 20 footer on the river

.

Guess I'll just have to call Viking lol.

**trouty12** · 13-04-12, 10:46

Originally Posted by Deefor

There's a new Viking 215 on the Thames, delivered a month or so ago, with a bow thruster fitted. Shame a stern thruster wasn't fitted as well because we all know it's essential to have both fitted on a 20 footer on the river

.

Guess I'll just have to call Viking lol.

Thats ridiculous! You will be amazed how manouverable your V20 will be. The turning moment of the outboard and the lightness of the boat give you great control.

The only slight difficulty is going in a straight line without zig zagging! It takes some getting used to, you need very small movement of the helm and have to resist the temptation to over correct.

I started out with Vikings and they provide great economical fun.

Enjoy!

**Deefor** · 13-04-12, 11:43

Originally Posted by trouty12

Thats ridiculous! You will be amazed how manouverable your V20 will be. The turning moment of the outboard and the lightness of the boat give you great control.

The only slight difficulty is going in a straight line without zig zagging! It takes some getting used to, you need very small movement of the helm and have to resist the temptation to over correct.

I started out with Vikings and they provide great economical fun.

Enjoy!

No thrusters for me, never seen the need, even on my old Farline 40. I was just relating to the owner of the 215 who felt the need for a bow thruster and me being sarcastic

.

With regards to the OB steering, I quickly learnt last year that they don't manouver like a single or twin shaft drive. mangaed to pick up a used size 2 Ruddersafe was very little £'s and it transformed the old Mayland with an Evinrude OB. Wouldn't be without the Ruddersafe now and it's the first thing to do when the boat comes home in a few weeks time.

**SimonA** · 13-04-12, 12:08

Lovely little boat. It's nice to see the market for new river boats isn't completely dead. I fancied a Viking 20 myself, but as I have a family it was too small so I got a 35 year old JGM Madeira (27ft with aft cabin) instead.

**Trundlebug** · 13-04-12, 12:57

Excellent thread.

As a matter of interest, and at great risk of being shot down for my ignorance, what is the difference between a Viking and a Shetland? Did you consider a Shetland?

I'm just curious, as I saw a Shetland 24 at the NEC boat show a couple of years back and was really impressed at the accommodation and facilities and wondered how it differed from a Viking.

**Robih** · 13-04-12, 13:04

...attached is a piccie of our V20 on the River Ouse in 1995...those were the days!

**Deefor** · 13-04-12, 14:55

Originally Posted by Trundlebug

Excellent thread.

As a matter of interest, and at great risk of being shot down for my ignorance, what is the difference between a Viking and a Shetland? Did you consider a Shetland?

I'm just curious, as I saw a Shetland 24 at the NEC boat show a couple of years back and was really impressed at the accommodation and facilities and wondered how it differed from a Viking.

Very good question and yes, I'd looked at the Shetland 4+2 on paper many months ago. So why the V20?

Firstly, without getting on the Shetland website to check (down at the moment), IIRC the Shetland 4+2 comes in at 1200kg without an engine I believe, whereas the V20 comes in fully laden at 1100kg (ish). A trip to the weighbridge will confirm this in a few weeks time. So as we're on a trailer, weight was everything to utilise the car we've got.

Secondly, price new

. Even on paper, Viking seemed to offer better value for money and this has been borne out in the final deal. By going direct to Viking and not through one of their so called "dealers", we've saved thousands on a fully specced, customised boat. Viking even advertise the fact that you can buy direct and have done since around September 2011.

Thirdly, just the initial enquiry to Viking to enquire about dry weight seemed to strike a chord with us. They asked the right questions and we new immediately we could trust them to build the boat we wanted. Strange how even first impressions on the phone can count for a lot. It was Wayne Goodwin, one of the two partners, who answered the phone and since that day we'd like to think we've formed a good relationship and understanding. And not fogetting Vinny Clayden, the other partner, who has also been extremely helpful and patient.

Fourthly, pedigree. Many of the current workforce worked on the original Seamasters before they went out of business and Viking Mouldings bought the moulds. Better explained in brief here http://www.vikingowners.org.uk/history/history.asp?g=1 or in much more detail http://www.vikingcruisers.com/index....id=9&Itemid=90.

As to the general question of Viking v Shetland - Shetland have, I think five boats in their range (the Family 4 that you can't stand up in, the 4+2 at 22 feet and then a big jump up to the 27 and 29). Viking have boats in their range from 20' through to 32'. Their wide beam boats go from 20' through to 28' (20, 22, 24 and 26 plus the Seamaster 28) and offer a similar range of narrow beams up to 32' for canals and tight rivers.

I can't comment on the level of customisation that Shetland could offer as I didn't get that far. By now, our hearts had been stolen by Viking

. I've seen Shetland's quality and care before in a marina where they fitted the Eberspacher exhaust under a fender (yes, the fender caught fire) and another where someone stepped on Shetland 27 integral teak slatted bathing platform and went straight through into the water.

At this stage in our relationship with Viking, we wouldn't hesitate to buy a bigger boat when the time is right. The six berth Viking 26 would do just fine thank you very much and at around £45-50k fully customised seems a bargain in today's market.

Hope this goes some way in answering why we chose Viking. (Now awaits a barrage from Shetland owners

)