Vanguard Vector

One of the boats we used to own was a Vanguard Vector. It’s definately not a sportboat. It’s a skiff. Nikki and I had a blast on this boat, but it was very wet and a lot of work. It’s a dual trapeze boat designed to be between a 29er and 49er with the ideal crew weight around 300lbs. The boat was rigged very well (simply), but it did have one huge design flaw in my mind.

The huge design flaw was that it would tip over at the dock WITHOUT any sails up. I know it’s because it’s a rounded narrow hull and a tall rig. As soon as the rig would lean over the water over the boat went. In less than 5 seconds unattended the boat would be on it’s side. Now I worked at Vanguard for a summer and was able to ask the designer why that was. He said they designed the hull shape to optimize boatspeed in light air. I’m not sure about you, but when you can trap in a boat in 8kts of wind, who cares about less wind than that? We should be in the car park discussing sailing, not actually sailing. A lot of people (including the designer) are quick to ask why I care about that. Well there are a few reasons. First is that I don’t like to have to baby sit my boat at the dock, even if I have crew to do it for me. It should be well mannered enough to only use a bow line so we can get ready and tent to the dolly. A I-14 can do that. A 29er and 49er can do that in light air. But a vector WITH NO SAILS ON THE BOAT will tip over? Also, I like to sail alone. I could sail the vector alone pretty easily, but launching it basically needs 2 people, or you have to strap it to the dock which was a huge PITA every time I went out.

In the end, my wife got sick of a boat that is that much work. We both enjoyed the speed, but she wants a keel. I also couldn’t sail it alone above 15kts really. 18 was too much, 15 was OK. The issue was when alone I couldn’t cross the boat fast enough and I’d get stuck in irons tacking. Downwind was fine, just bear away. The chute even could be flown alone. The only issue there was driving with a foot dead down w/o death rolling and going over. Once it was up it was easy enough provided you had a main sheet cleat.

I did love the rig in that boat though. Everything was so easy. Self tacking jib, 1 line chute system, the whole nine. Ideally I want that rig, with a jib furler on whatever 20′ boat we end up with.

• LOA 15 feet
• Beam 6 feet
• Draft 4′ 9″
• Displacement 220 Lbs
• Ballast 0 Lbs
• SA (upwind) 160 sq. ft.
• SA (downwind) 370 sq. ft.