You may not have heard of the new Viknes 10 but this Nordic 35 footer offers impressive seakeeping characteristics. Alex Smith reports
Chances are you won’t have heard much about Viknes or the new Viknes 10 unless you live in the Nordic states. But here in Düsseldorf (and soon to be making its way to the UK) is a boat that every family cruiser ought to see.
Designed and built in its native Norway, just a stone’s throw from Bergen, these things have a sterling reputation for the quality of their seakeeping in North Sea waters and that’s great to hear. But what, aside from its sea manners, makes it so good?
Well, it’s a supremely clever and (even in standard format) well-specced platform. The cockpit, for instance, uses a brilliant drop-down curtain system with idiot-proof tensioners, so you can deploy the canvases in seconds and then roll them back up into place without creasing the window sections.
A fully featured outdoor helm also comes as standard
There’s also a big port dinette with reverse seat hinges for easy one-handed access to your storage and, as on every Viknes, there’s a fully featured second helm back here as standard. There are lots of dedicated lockers for lines and fenders, plus an option for an automated tender retrieval system. And in addition to a starboard side gate and a skipper’s side door, you also get massive sunroofs above the forward saloon and the aft cockpit.
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The aft one is soft rather than rigid, but because this boat is built for northern Europe, it’s double-lined with a thick waterproof outer and a slick Alcantara-style finish on the inside.
This aft space integrates a treat with the internal saloon, thanks to three-part sliding doors and a lifting starboard panel, and the saloon itself is equally well done.
The starboard galley uses a clever stove with gas beneath glass, and the pedestal for the oak table at the saloon’s raised port dinette is, in fact, a cabinet with storage for all your cups and glasses. That means that you can’t convert it into an occasional double unless you opt for the telescopic leg but that’s not an issue because, believe it or not, this is a three-cabin boat.
Though not huge, the galley is remarkably high spec
There’s a fore-and-aft single beneath the dinette, a transverse double beneath the saloon and a forward owner’s double – all with two-metre beds, ample headroom and proper storage solutions. There’s only one heads compartment, but it comes with a good footprint, an attractive fit-out and a shower compartment that can be cordoned off from the rest of the space.
In the absence of any hull windows, light and views come solely from long panels in the raised mouldings above the rubbing strake, but light, views and ventilation can be upgraded with additional portlights and windows if you choose. In short, with its design intelligence, its quality of execution, its heritage and its price point, this Viknes 10 is one of the most outstanding exhibits of the entire show.
Viknes 10 specifications
LOA: 34ft 9in (10.60m)
BEAM: 11ft 7in (3.52m)
ENGINES: Yanmar 370-440 on straight shaft
TOP SPEED: 25-28 knots
PRICE: from £258,725 ex VAT
CONTACT: viknes.no
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