Viking 44 MY: Thoughts please

[bobk]

My son wants to move up to a 44 Viking MY from a 37' Silverton. Does anyone have any thoughts on these boats? Not a Hatteras of course, but seem well built from what I can see.

Also they typically have DD 671TIB's. What's the life expectancy when pushing a 40,000 pound boat?

Thanks,
Bob
Chateau de Mer
1981 Series I MY

PS, if anyone knows of a good 44 for sale, please let me know.

[REBrueckner]

Vikings are very decent popular boats and have a good balance, I think, between hull weight/strength/weight and speed....I'd say about like posts...

The life expectancy of high HP 71 series is limited when they are run hard, just fine when output HP/RPM at normal cruise is reasonable...


Ask the owner what speed and rpm they were normally run....

I'd check David Pascoe's website and see what he sez for tips...see what generic issues they may have....

Great time to be buying, don't be afraid to make a low offer especially if the boat has been on market a while....

[saltshaker]

make sure all the stringers are sound. Viking used plywood wrapped in fiberglass for the stringers. Unfortunately, they didn't glass over the limber holes through the stringers. Over time the core rots completely and the fiberglas is not enough to give the structural support you need. I've seen this on a lot of 80's-early 90's Vikings. You can usually tell by seeing if there is any sagging were the steel I beams for the engines attach to the stringers. If they are wet or rotted forget the boat. A friend of mine found this on his '90 48SF. Turned out every stringer was shot. When he cut open the ER stringers, the core looked like tobacco. The only way to properly fix it was to cut each stringer open, replace the core and reglass. The big problem is you can't tell whats going on under the cabin sole without ripping out the whole interior. He got several quotes for 300K plus to do the job and all were just estimates until the entire interior was removed!

[bobk]

Thanks guys.

I now remember hearing about the stringer issues sometime ago. How about bulkheads?

Bob

[garyd]

Where will he be using it? The 44 is a flat bottomed rough riding creature that loves to stay at the dock. If he is a real boater I'd look elsewhere.

garyd

[whaler23]

Yes, the stringers definitely had issues on the 80's era boats. I also think the styling is dated as well at this point, it's not holding up the test of time well at all, even their sportfisherman are starting to look a bit dated...

[fissioneng]

485 HP TIBs....I would stay away. They need to be perfectly maintained. My dockmate keeps on top of his and they still get hot pushing a much lighter boat.

Why not steer him to a 43 DC?

[jlightonjr]

I have always liked the Viking 44my. The 44 is a much faster boat than the Hat 43 MY. That is not to say it is better in any way but it is a faster boat.

Like the 43MY (Series II - I think that is the proper series) the 44 has a nice floor plan - good aft deck, only a couple of steps up to the flybridge (no ladder) good salon, great dinet (if you get that model) and nice aft stateroom.

The 671TIB's are juiced up but like any engine, don't run the snot out of them, keep the oil & fuel clean and fresh, and make sure the cooling system is top notch shape.

I was always under the impression that the 44 offered a "good" ride per several friends who owned the 44 on the great lakes.

Sounds like there are some areas to watch out for (stringers) but I like the late model 44my's(1989/1990) as they have a bit of a higher line interior and some great features like cablemasters and such.

Shoot me for saying this on a Hat Forum but... The 44 Viking MY has a lot to offer - IMHO ;-)

[fissioneng]

It is definitely a faster boat, but as you can tell, I'm not a fan of 6-71 TIBs.

I looked at Viking 44s prior to buying my 43 MY. The Viking is 1 foot wider which makes the interior much more spacious, but at the sacrifice of some sea keeping ability (the length to beam thing).

Also, I talked to several owners that got tired of the "step up" from the foredeck to the aftdeck. That is necessary because the MY was built on a 44 sportfish hull.

Definitely a nice boat, but I think overpriced from what's on Yachtworld right now. There are some fine 43 DCs out there for half the price.

[SKYCHENEY]

Quality differences aside (and they are many), I'd still buy a similar sized Hatteras instead. You just get so much more in the way of factory support and parts availability that you'd be crazy to opt for the Viking.

[doc g]

Everyone jumps on 671 TIB's . They are not hand grenades like some engines . It all depends on how they're run as any other high performance diesel . Most of the bad rap IMHO is from the 40' ish sportfish crowd who run the piss out of everything and get upset when they scatter. This is where they were used the most . The guys trying to get another knot or two for bragging rights . They are not naturals and can't be run WOT all day but kept at 2100 or less will give very good service . I owned a pair from 100 hours to 1100 hours and never had any problems other than a HE that was probably defective from the get go. I would not avoid a boat that had 671TIB's as long as they were maintained and run properly. One of my old boating buddies used to say, "there are only so many horsepower -hours in there ,you can take all out at once or a little at a time " Get a good engine survey ,talk to the previous owner and see how he ran them ,don't scratch it off the list because of the engines ..............Pat

[Walter P]

Bob,

I think Vikings are fair boats, with some reservations about the stringers etc. I also believe that the 43 series 2 (84-87) MY is a better boat, but what the heck, I'm a dyed in the wool Hatteras guy.

Walt

PS..... You can always threaten to disinherit your son if he buys other than Hatteras...

[bobk]

Many thanks for the good discussion guys. My son (and his wife) would die for my 48MY and he'll probably get it one day, but he has had the hots for a 44 Viking since he saw one at the Annapolis show when he was in his early teens. His boating is on the Chesapeake so the flatter bottom would not be an issue. They are sure popular at BYC.

I'm not sure my son has seen a 43 Hatt series 2 MY, but I'm sure he is following this thread. Maybe he'll have a look at one. Again, thanks for your in-puts.

Regards,
Bob
Chateau de Mer
1981 Series I 48MY

[Pete]

When I was shopping for our Hatt, a surveyor that did an excellent job for me, made some comments to the broker about a Viking sitting next to the boat we were working on. I was not part of the conversation so this is not even second hand info. But, the comment centered around the problems with the use of coring in the Viking hull sides. Ask around and see if there is any merit to the comments. I would not buy, even at a bargain price, a vintage age fiberglass boat with cored hull sides. I do personally know of a current situation with a Viking 43 DC with transom coring problems. Buyer Beware. Be sure you know what you are buying, even the stuff you can not see. I suspect any vintage boat with hull core rot is close to worthless in the market due to repair cost and feasibility. Occasional deck coring problems with Hatts is more than enough for me.

Pete

[dougl33]

Where will he be using it? The 44 is a flat bottomed rough riding creature that loves to stay at the dock. If he is a real boater I'd look elsewhere.

garyd

Not really any flatter than most other Vikings. Deadrise was 15.5 degrees.