Last week I mentioned that one of the top ten boat show questions I hear is “Anything smaller than a V52?” I also hinted, with no real agenda, of a future post on why I love our V65 model.
Well. here’s another top ten boat show hit: “Got any V65’s?”
Now I do!
Vicem 65
Vicem 65 Classic
Let me explain.
The Vicem 65 has always been my favorite Vicem. I’ve caught some flack over this from other Vicem fans, both inside and outside the company. Some say she is too narrow, or too sailboaty, or too much of a snout. But those are the exact reason I love her. And there are two V65 owners in America (with a few more in Europe) who wouldn’t trade their V65’s for anything afloat. Her length provides the interior volume her beam gives up. And she has the largest cockpit in our line. An amazing entertaining platform.
Personally, as a sailor, all things being equal I lean towards narrower boats. The tradeoff in elbow room for looks and efficiency just works for me. Boats with higher beam-to-length ratios are more easily driven, more fuel efficient, pound less, and go to weather drier.
Here is a quick-and-dirty table of our Classic line, sorted by Beam to Length ratio.
| Model | B/L Ratio |
| 54 | 3.04 |
| 58 | 3.12 |
| 51 | 3.29 |
| 52 | 3.30 |
| 67 | 3.46 |
| 70 | 3.61 |
| 72 | 3.70 |
| 75 | 3.77 |
| 65 | 3.78 |
While naval architects will tell you that 3.0 and above is the sweet spot, y0u’ll see the 65 just nudges out the 75 and 72 to win.
So I mentioned my 65 preference a few weeks ago, and low and behold I got an email from my friend Annie Benard in France yesterday, with a new listing. Saga is a 2005 model, which had a complete refit in 2010. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner and doing her very first sea trial in Istanbul when she first splashed, and she just blew me away.
She is in Marseille, captain maintained, and can be seen at any time. Given the realities of the European market these days, the asking price is a very low 900,000 euros.
Call me and I can talk you through the issues of shipping charges and US electrical conversion. But if it were me, I’d cruise the Med for a season or two before bringing her home. Case in point: I have one V65 owner from Florida who keeps his in the Med full time!
Here are some really impressive pix:
And here is the Yachtworld Listing:
Incidentally, since I know my loyal readers actively follow my efforts to build a school in Haiti, I will point you in the direction of Annie’s extra-curricular life, focusing on a similar project in northern India:
That’s it for now. See ya in Miami….
