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Review of Viggen


Viggen
Viggen.


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Viggen aka Albin Viggen or Viggen 23 is a sailboat designed by the Swedish maritime architect Per Brohäll in the early sixties. A few thousand boats have been produced. The Viggen is built by the Swedish yard Karlskronavarv.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Viggen or similar boat for sale

Hull
The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Interior
The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany.
The boat is equipped with 4 berths, a galley and toilet facility.

Cockpit
Cockpit
Cockpit of Viggen anno 1973. Karlskrona Viggen 23, sitting in Aalborg in December 2022, while it´s freezing out.
Rig
The boat has more than one rig.

One option is a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

The Viggen has been built with more than one type of keel.

One option is a long keel. A long keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated.

Viggen can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.11 - 1.21 meter (3.64 - 3.94 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

An outboard motor is often used on this boat. In that case the boat will typically require a power of 3 - 4 hp, alternatively 62 - 74 lbs thrust if you prefer an electrical motor. Electric outboards are becoming popular for sailboat owners who want clean instant power with less noise and no exhaust fumes.


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Viggen is 2.03, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 5.9 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Viggen is about 90 kg/cm, alternatively 506 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 90 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 506 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Viggen is 16.0.

Low High 54% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 54% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Viggen is 3.13.

Wide Slim 76% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 76% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Viggen is 36%.

Low High 38% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 38% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Viggen is 180 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.

Heavy Light 62% 0 50 100
62% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Viggen with ISO 8666 reference sail is 14.3, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.7.

Low High 24% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 24% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 82% 0 50 100
The Viggen has more rig than 82% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 15m2 (161 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
Masthead rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 18.5 m(60.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard18.5 m(60.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard18.5 m(60.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 7.0 m(23.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet7.0 m(23.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 17.6 m(57.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet15.5 m(50.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham2.7 m(8.9 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap5.4 m(17.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul5.4 m(17.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Masthead rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Jib sheet 7.0 m(23.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet7.0 m(23.1 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 17.6 m(57.8 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet15.5 m(50.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Viggen it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References