VIKO S35, THE BEST BARGAIN ON THE MARKET?

The Viko S35 is a very good looking boat, an Italian design by Sergio Lupoli but made in Polland. The hull design looks good to me and having visited the boat twice I can only say nice things regarding the finish, taking into account the boat price, but some of the sail hardware looked under dimensioned and they didn't let me have a look at the boat structure. The dealer was not forthcoming regarding more information neither seemed to have much knowledge about how the boat was built.

You can read my impressions and thoughts about the design and visits to the Viko S35, here:
https://interestingsailboats.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-dusseldorf-bargains-viko-s35.html
https://interestingsailboats.blogspot.com/search?q=Viko+S35

Now I have more information, the boat was test sailed by the Dutch Zeilen magazine, by the German Yacht magazine and we have the opinion of the first Dutch owner. Of course, many more boats were sold, some are doing charter and we have only the opinion of one owner,  but I do think it is a relevant one because he is not bashing his new boat and what he says seems honest and clear. 

Besides most of what he says is confirmed by the opinion of a German owner of a S30, that loves his boat, and it seems that the "problems" and advantages on the two models are very similar.

Basically what they say, and it is supported especially by the Dutch tester, is that the boat, if one intends to have a normally equipped sailboat, is much more expensive than what the standard price lets you believe. Many things that are standard on boats like Beneteau, Jeanneau, Bavaria and Hanse here are options, and that says much about the lack of equipment since those mass production boats come already with very little standard equipment.

On the images of the Dutch sail test we can see that the Viko 35S has apparently a good sail performance but the tester complained that the boat when over-canvassed lost steerage and turned to the wind too easily. On the German test they did not report that and remarked a good sail performance, with the boat making 8.0 kt with not too much wind.

Maybe there was more wind on the Dutch test or they were sailing the boat with the shallow draft,(1.6m) that has a smaller rudder, anyway on the German test, made by a very experienced sailor, they liked the way the boat sailed, even if that boat was very well equipped and far from a standard boat.

They pointed out that the water tank is below average as well as 15hp engine, both too small making it unavoidable to pay more for an optional 30hp one and bigger tankage. On the Dutch test they also pointed out that the boat comes only with a battery (house and engine), the blocks were undersized and didn't work well, a front sail furler is extra and that the mainsail has only one reef.

The owner of the Viko used on the Dutch test sail paid for it 106 650 euros, meaning 48 330 euros, almost 100% in extras over the 58 320 euros standard price boat (prices without VAT) and even so he had to spend 5000 euros more to substitute undersized equipment and had to do plenty work himself, because the factory did nothing, and stop replying to his emails.

He also said that the interior of the boat was in order, except in what regards electric installation that he says is substandard. The bigger problem had to do with deck layout, sail hardware and installation errors. He remarked also that the boat sailed well.

It seems that the Dutch dealer stopped activity as Viko's dealer and I don't know if some of the things the owner complains about were not his responsibility since many things on a boat are mounted by the dealer.

Anyway, the boat was delivered with lots of installation errors, like for instance stoppers for 10/12 lines, when the boat uses 8mm lines, bad running rigging with no functional blocks and VHF without an antenna.

The German dealer is the main Viko dealer and I don't know if the lesser problems with the German boat have to do with a more experienced dealer. I hope many of these problems will be smoothed with time and in fact they were not reported on the German sail test.

 It is unacceptable the factory refusing to assume any responsibility for obviously inadequate equipment and even worse, refusing further contact with the owner. I have heard similar complaints from owners of smaller boats in what regards the shipyard replying to owners.

So, is it all bad? Well, no, if we look at the boat characteristics, namely design characteristics, including B/D, the Viko S35 is interesting by itself and if we compare prices, for instance with the one of an Oceanis 35.1 (96 000 euros standard), we will see that the Viko 35s is considerably less expensive. Sure, the Oceanis 35.1 comes standard with more equipment but it is far from being a sail away boat.

To put it at the same level as the Viko S35 used on the sail test, probably you would have to spend 35000 euros more and the difference between the two boats similarly equipped would still be very significant, about 25/20 000 euros.

Another important factor is that in what regards boat structure we know how the Oceanis is built, and we know, by the experience of many similar boats built by Beneteau and many 35.1 already made, that the boat is solid enough for not losing the keel (unless the structure is weakened by grounding).

 On the Viko S35 they don't show the boat structure to anybody, there is no information or photos from the factory and the one I saw on the Viko S30 did not impress me positively, namely due to the absence of substantial backplates and due to what appeared to me to be few and not substantial keel bolts.

Nevertheless, the boat has a good stability and that means also a good sail potential and it can be interesting for coastal cruising or even some club racing. The possibility of buying an underequipped boat inexpensively (it comes standard with sails) can be an interesting proposition for the ones that choose to upgrade themselves the boat, every year, as more money is available, doing all the work.

 In the meantime, they can still cruise and sail the boat and if the work is done by them, the upgrade will be less expensive than if it was made by the shipyard, with the advantage of choosing the material they want (blocks, furler) at the best price and having all the special pieces available by the factory, like a cockpit table, a transom swim platform or a bowsprit with an anchor stand.

If you are interested in a Viko S35, to know its qualities and drawbacks I would not advise you to go to a boat show where all you would see, or they would let you see, is of relatively good quality, namely the interior and the gelcoat finish. I would strongly recommend you to charter the boat on the Baltic, where it is available for not much money. Talk with the guys that make the boat maintenance for the charter company and you will have some real insight about possible problems on the Viko S35 or the absence of them. Then, please, tell us your feedback :-)