Interior Accommodations

Blue Star’s interior is beautifully finished in cherry veneers with solid wood trim. White laminate headliner and cabinsides give the interior a bright feeling, enhanced by numerous stainless steel ports and overhead hatches. The floorboards are one inch thick with teak and holly and have mechanisms to be secured.

Four steps lead from the cockpit to the cabin. The entrance to the aft cabin is to starboard. There is a solid door and it’s obvious the quarterberth will be a excellent sea berth. There is a place to sit while dressing and a hanging locker. Two drawers are located below the berth.

To port is the head with separate shower stall. The head faces forward and is usable on either tack. That may seem like a simple thing, but it shows the attention to building a passage-making boat rather than just a vacation home.

The engine room may be accessed via a door at the aft end of the head, or by removing panels beneath the companionway stairs.

Forward to port is the navigation station. Her communications equipment, radar and electrical distribution/monitoring systems are here. There is room to put a chart or a laptop and a comfortable place to work.

To starboard is a very generous galley. The counter is U shaped with the gimballed three burner propane stove outboard. It will be safe here to work while underway. Deep double stainless sinks, a large top loading refrigerator and freezer and ample storage space make this a well conceived galley for a long distance cruising boat.

Forward on each side are settees with cabinets outboard. Both of the settees make excellent sea berths and have lee cloths. The table on centerline is solid and has leaves that fold up to provide seating for visitors or a larger crew.

Forward of the main bulkhead is the V berth with cabinets port and starboard. There is a wonderful compass on the overhead so you can see from the berth if you are still on course. The hull is lined with cedar to create a warm and cozy cabin.

Espar forced air diesel heater with multiple outlets

Dickinson Mediterranean 3 burner propane stove/oven (2018)

(2) 20 lb propane tanks

Xintex S2A propane solenoid control panel

Adler/Barbour Super ColdMachine 12v refrigeration with water cooled option

Raritan PHII head (head hoses replaced 2019)

30 gallon holding tank

HyperVent mattress pad in V berth

2 inch latex topper for V berth

Alpenglow interior lights

Electronics and Navigation

B&G Zeus2 9 inch chartplotter with wifi (2016)

B&G sailing instruments (2016)

B&G wind instrument at masthead (2017)

Vesper Marine XB-8000 AIS transceiver (2016)

Furuno 1721 radar on mast with display at nav station

Alpha 3000 autopilot (hardware upgrade to version 10 in 2017)

Monitor self steering windvane

Icom IC-M422 VHF radio w/DSC with remote microphone (2006)

Icom 706 Mrk IIG HAM radio w/AH-4 antenna tuner

SCS PTC-IIe Pactor modem

Insulated backstay antenna for HF radio

Icom ICM25 handheld VHF

Weems & Plath thermometer, clock and barometer

Electrical Systems

12v DC and 120v AC electrical systems

Valiant Yachts AC/DC distribution panel with AC voltmeter and DC voltmeter and ammeter

(1) Lifeline Group 31 AGM starting battery (2022)

(1) Lifeline Group 31 AGM (105 Ah, 2022) house battery charged by (1) Victron 200 amp hour lithium battery (2022) via Victron Orion 12-30 DC to DC charger

Balmar 120 amp alternator (2018) with Balmar MC-614 regulator (2016)

(1) Renogy 160 watt solar panel (2019) on custom arch and (2) Solbian 78 watt solar panels (2022) on dodger

(2) Victron Energy 75/15 solar controllers with individual MPPT Control Displays

Victron BMV-700 battery monitor and Victron Smartshunt

Pronautic 1260P 60 amp charger (2016)

GoPower 300 watt inverter at nav station (2016)

12v outlet at nav station, 120v outlets throughout

Mechanical Systems

Beta Marine 38 hp diesel (new 2018, 520 hours)

HBW150V-3.0 V drive transmission

Max-Prop 17 inch three blade feathering prop (reconditioned 2018)

Spare fixed 2 blade propeller

PYI dripless shaft seal (2018)

Racor 500 fuel filter

55 gallon fuel tank

Deck and Hull

Blue Star’s hull is built in hand laid fiberglass using alternating layers of mat and roving bonded with isophthalic resin. Structural members use PVC foam coring rather than the more common plywood to ensure almost unlimited structural integrity even into the bilge areas which are two inches of solid fiberglass. The 7000 pound ballast keel is then bonded externally using eleven 3/4 inch stainless bolts. The rudder is protected and secured by a massive skeg. The deck uses balsa coring for weight savings except in areas of stress where structural foam is substituted. The hull and deck joint is secured by through bolting on 4.5 inch centers through an in-turned flange.

The cockpit of Blue Star is very well protected by her hard dodger. The rail surrounding the cockpit is one inch stainless rather than the more common wire. The companionway hatch is inset to allow a large area at the bridgedeck where you can straddle the interior and the cockpit. The autopilot control is on the port side of the entryway and this is the ideal place to be on watch during any weather. There are handholds for moving in and out of the interior.

Lighthouse 1501 electric windlass

Spade S100 44 lb anchor with 275’ 5/16 inch HT chain

Fortress FX-23 with 250 feet chain/rope rode

Roller and cleat for a stern anchor

Stainless tubing boarding ladder

Sails and Rigging

Two spreader aluminum mast and aluminum boom, painted white

Navtec rod rigging

Hydraulic backstay adjuster

Removable inner forestay

(2) Lewmar 54ST primary winches

Lewmar 40ST mainsheet winch

(2) Lewmar 40ST winches on mast

(2) Lewmar 40ST cabin top winches

Schaefer roller furler

North Sails Dacron mainsail (2015)

North Sails Dacron furling yankee headsail (2015)

North Sails Dacron hank on staysail (2015)

North Sails gennaker (1997)

Spare mainsail and staysail (1997)

Rig dimensions:
I: 49.00 ft
J: 16.67 ft
P: 45.00 ft
E: 14.50 ft
Working Sail Area: 735.00 sq ft

Miscellaneous and Safety

Achilles LSI-290E 9’6” hypalon inflatable dinghy (2016)

ACR 406 EPIRB (battery expired)

Zodiac liferaft in canister (certification expired)

Cruising World Review (August 5, 2002)

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to hear someone hail a Valiant as seaworthy. Designer Robert Perry’s canoe-stern staple has become a blue-water icon of sorts for long-distance sailors, from a generation of singlehanded around-the-world racers to oceangoing cruising families with a yen for far horizons.

The 39 is essentially an updated edition of the popular Valiant 37, with a hefty tubular stainless bowsprit that increases the size of the foretriangle and opens the door for a real working staysail in the boat’s cutter configuration. By modern standards she is a straightforward vessel characterized by a subtle sheer, considerable tumblehome, deep-V sections beneath the waterline forward, a fin keel and a skeg-hung rudder. In other words she’s a reliable, conservative platform for doing decidedly unconservative things — like sailing across an ocean.

Construction details read like a primer on how to build a boat so it won’t fall apart. The hull is laid up in one piece of solid glass, hand laminated with alternate layers of mat and woven roving. Isophthalic resin is used throughout, from the gel coat right on into the laminate. Floor timbers are built up of heavy layers of mat and woven roving over PVC high-density closed-cell foam; these reinforce the underbody and extend into the sump, a sturdy element rendered with up to two inches of solid glass. The keel consists of 7,000 pounds of external lead bedded to the bottom of the sump with 3M 5200, and secured by no fewer than 11 3/4-inch stainless J bolts topped with 1/4-inch stainless backing plates and stainless nuts. The deck utilizes Baltek balsa core for stiffness and weight reduction, with structural foam in areas of major stress; it is affixed to the hull on an inturned flange with 5200 and stainless bolts on 4 1/2-inch centers. Whoa.

The rig is a keel-stepped, high-aspect masthead affair with two sets of spreaders, fore-and-aft lowers, and an inner forestay brought to the stem aft of the bowsprit for cutter work. Standing rigging port and starboard terminates at chain plates secured with stainless bolts and backing plates to hefty structural knees bonded into the hull. The 39’s SA/Disp ratio of 16.8 does not point at wicked light-air performance, but by augmenting the sail plan with the appropriate canvas you can offset that apparent disadvantage; in truth and in fairness, the versatility of the rig in moderate-to-heavy oceangoing conditions is of far more enduring significance.

In the realm of accommodations and amenity, this is a genuine passage maker, with emphasis on what’s functional, comfortable and safe at sea, not on how many showers you can fit into 37 feet of hull. To wit, there is one head, located on the port side aft, cleverly adjacent to but separate from a single shower stall. Smallish sleeping doubles are located in the starboard quarter and forepeak. A serious nav station with a chart table, electrical panel and electronics is tucked in to port, opposed on the starboard side by a very secure U-shaped galley. The saloon includes longitudinal settees, both of which with lee cloths make terrific sea berths, and a folding dinette admidship. For insulation and sound dampening, 1/2-inch foam is applied to the inside of the hull from the waterline up. Storage is addressed in lockers, cubbies, shelves and settee bins; long-range provisioning can spill into the vessel’s substantial bilge if necessary.

Mechanically, the boat is set up for uncomplicated maintenance, rugged use and long stints away from the dock. A freshwater-cooled Westerbeke 35B is located in an engine compartment behind the companionway steps; for a 37-foot hull, itÕs a veritable engine room. The Racor fuel filter, raw-water intake, engine oil dipstick, V-drive unit, starter and whatnot are all easy to get at when the needs arise. The electrical scenario includes a dual-bank 12-volt DC system and a 110-volt AC shore power hookup with a 30-amp charger and plenty of cabin outlets. The distribution panel is assembled by Valiant and provides a DC breaker with 28 individual toggles, an AC breaker with 12, the requisite voltage and amperage meters, and a reverse-polarity indicator. In terms of tankage, fuel lives in two removable marine alloy units aft of the engine, fresh water in stainless tanks beneath the settees.

Boat Of The Year sail testing put the Valiant through its paces in 10 to 12 knots of breeze amid a light chop. Perry’s very competent design tracks nicely in these conditions. The helm is responsive and the boat reacts positively to trim. Speed and acceleration are not strong suits, but maneuverability, settling into a groove and finding a satisfying angle upwind are. Above all, this boat is comfortable to sail, a comment uttered unanimously in judges’ deliberations after our sea trial.

Given the blue-water scenario for which all Valiants are conceived and built, this may be the highest compliment you could pay a boat such as the 39. The idea that you can go to sea in a vessel actually designed to take care of you is powerful. Few would doubt how well adapted both philosophically and practically this little voyager is to the big leagues offshore.

By Quentin Warren