About the Boat

Click to view: Iolair Photo Album

Iolair is a 1984 Valiant 47.  She was named "Iolair" by her prior owners.  Iolair is Gaelic for sea eagle. We decided we'd keep the name.

"There is probably not a year that goes by that, somewhere on this watery globe, a Valiant yacht isn’t involved in a circumnavigation. It is a boat designed for far horizons and owned by those seeking them out."  Blue Water Sailing

The hull was laid up at Uniflight in Washington State just as the company was sold and she was moved to the new Valiant factory outside of Dallas, Texas.  She was finished there and launched in Corpus Christie.   Only 17 Valiant 47’s were made.  She was designed by Robert Perry to be a short-handed, round the world cruising boat.  Unfortunately Valiant stopped building new boats in 2011 during the recession, but their factory continues to provide support for all the models they build over 25 years.

“The 47 has an impressive track record. In the 1986 BOC round-the-world race, Mark Schrader’s stock Valiant 47 Lone Star was the only boat to complete the race without stopping for a major repair. Alan Veenstra’s Parvenu has been winning races regularly, everything from the Bermuda 1-2 to the New England Solo to the Trans-Lake Michigan Solo. Bill Pinkney’s record-setting (the first African-American) solo circumnavigation, passing under all five Great Capes, was done on Commitment, the second time that particular Valiant 47 had gone around.”  Blue Water Sailing

Iolair is a very solid platform for us, and we’ve worked hard to learn the job of every hose, wire, and piece of hardware. She has two comfortable cabins, fore, and aft, each with it's own head.  The salon settee also makes a comfortable berth. We updated all her major systems during refits from 2014 to 2016.  For those sailors interested in the details, here’s a list:

New Selden Mast and Boom
Antal track system coupled with slab reefing (keep it simple)
Full battened Quantum mainsail
New Chainplates, Standing, and Running Rigging
New Headsail furlers for the Staysail and Jib
Electric winch on the cabin top to handle a variety of heavy lifting jobs
New Seafrost 12 volt refrigeration and freezer
B&G Chartploters, Instruments, and Radar
360 Amp Hours of AGM Lifeline batteries
360 Watts of Solar Power
Viking 6 Man life Raft
Jordan Series Drogue
ACR EPIRB
Iridium Go Sat Phone System
AIS transponders in lifevests
All Thru-hulls removed, upgraded and replaced as required
Engine Serviced and compression tested
2 Heads: Nature’s Head and Jabsco Marine Head
New Galley Stove
Hydrovane Wind Steering System
9ft APEX rigid inflatable with 15 HP Yamaha

And just for fun:
2 inflatable stand up paddle boards
1 wind surfing rig for one of the paddle boards
2 sets of scuba gear
Guitar, Mandolin, and Ukelele

If you want to learn more about these boats, here are a couple of links:
http://valiantsailboats.com/mac/macval47.htm
http://www.bwsailing.com/bw/boat-reviews/valiant-50/



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