Boats from Valiant Yachts have a lot of bluewater miles to live up to. Since

these nevertheless are conditions that offshore sailors encounter

hauled when we wound in the sails. The boat has an easy, seakindly motion, the

heavier pressure from the rudder than would be experienced with a spade

1973, when Bob Perry designed the Valiant 40, the double-ended performance cruiser that helped open the modern era of light to moderate displacement bluewater boats, Valiant Yachts has been fine-tuning the formula. The cutter-rigged flagship Valiant 50 has Perry's trademark moderate-depth canoe body, long fin keel, skeg-protected rudder, and canoe stern, but the technologiecal side of the boat. The machinery and systems is year 2000 all the way.
   I sailed hull #5 in a lumpy chop and 12-knot winds, hardly a roaring gale, but

frequently. Flying a fullbatten mainsail and 120 percent headsail, the Valiant 50 beam-reached powerfully at 7.5 knots and made good time close-

result of hull sectons with relatively gentle, rather than hard, bilges and moderate beam and displacement. Steering the boat I found that there's

rudder, and the response to the helm is a tad slower as well. On a passage, when the boat will be steered primarily by a wind vane or an autopilot's drive unit, the boat's settled-down nature and directional stability will be a plus.
   The deck and cockpit layout and gear placement are safe and practical for offshore work; winch sizes are generous and sailhandling hardware is

husky. Notable for a 50-footer, the boom is low enough that even shorter sailors can lean across it or clamber onto the cockpit's hardtop dodger