Albin Vega

The Albin Vega, also called the Vega 27, is a Swedish sailboat that was designed by Per Brohäll as cruiser and first built in 1965.[1][2][3][4][5]

Albin Vega
Development
DesignerPer Brohäll
LocationSweden
Year1965
No. builtabout 3450
Builder(s)Albin Marine
Boat
Boat weight5,070 lb (2,300 kg)
Draft3.67 ft (1.12 m)
Hull
Typemonohull
Constructionfibreglass
LOA27.08 ft (8.25 m)
LWL23.00 ft (7.01 m)
Beam8.08 ft (2.46 m)
Engine typeVolvo Penta MD6A 13 hp (10 kW) diesel engine
Hull appendages
Keel/board typemodified long keel
Ballast2,017 lb (915 kg)
Rudder(s)keel-mounted rudder
Rig
Rig typeBermuda rig
I (foretriangle height)30.80 ft (9.39 m)
J (foretriangle base)10.17 ft (3.10 m)
P (mainsail luff)25.92 ft (7.90 m)
E (mainsail foot)10.83 ft (3.30 m)
Sails
Sailplanmasthead sloop
Mainsail area159 sq ft (14.8 m2)
Jib/genoa area145 sq ft (13.5 m2)
Spinnaker area506 sq ft (47.0 m2)
Gennaker area243 sq ft (22.6 m2)
Other sailsSolent: 212 sq ft (19.7 m2)
Staysail: 58 sq ft (5.4 m2)
Upwind sail area403 sq ft (37.4 m2)
Downwind sail area665 sq ft (61.8 m2)

The design was developed into the longer Singoalla 34 in 1970.[6]

Production

The design was built by Albin Marine in Sweden from 1965 until 1979, with about 3,450 boats completed, but it is now out of production. The Vega 27 is probably the most produced Scandinavian keelboat.[1][2][7][8]

Design
Vega showing the transom

The Vega is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fibreglass, with wood trim. It has a masthead sloop rig with aluminum spars, a deck-stepped mast, wire standing rigging and a single set of unswept spreaders. The hull has a slightly reverse sheer line, a spooned raked stem, an angled transom, a keel-mounted rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed modified long keel, with a cutaway forefoot. It displaces 5,070 lb (2,300 kg) and carries 2,017 lb (915 kg) of cast iron ballast.[1][2]

The boat has a draft of 3.67 ft (1.12 m) with the standard keel.[1]

The boat is fitted with a Swedish Volvo Penta MD6A diesel engine of 13 hp (10 kW) for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds 9.2 U.S. gallons (35 L; 7.7 imp gal) and the fresh water tank has a capacity of 17.2 U.S. gallons (65 L; 14.3 imp gal).[1][2]

The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin and two straight settees in the main cabin. The galley is located on both sides of the companionway ladder, with the two-burner stove to port and the sink to starboard. A navigation station is on the starboard side. The head is located just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side.[1][2]

For sailing the design may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker of 506 sq ft (47.0 m2). It has a hull speed of 6.65 kn (12.32 km/h).[2]

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club in the United Kingdom, that organizes racing events, the Vega Association of Great Britain.[9]

The Vega has been cruised around the world on many occasions, including by Jarle Andhøy and his crew, in Berserk, to Antarctica[10] and to the north of Spitsbergen.[11]

A 36-year-old Albin Vega sailboat, named St. Brendan in honour of the 6th-century Irish explorer monk St. Brendan, was used by Matt Rutherford of Annapolis, Maryland in his successful 314-day, 27,077 mi (43,576 km) solo circumnavigation of North and South America which was officially completed on 18 April 2012, when Rutherford crossed his start and finish line—the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel outside Norfolk, Virginia.[12]

A review in Good Old Boat magazine by John Vigor stated, "Brohäll set out to design a boat that was light, fast, roomy, seaworthy, and relatively cheap. This was a seemingly impossible task because sailboat performance is the distilled essence of a series of compromises. What is seaworthy, for example, is not usually fast. What is roomy is not necessarily cheap. But Brohäll succeeded in producing one of those rare designs that exceeds most people's expectations in most areas. The one obvious thing the Vega lacks, in comparison with more modern designs, is space down below."[13]

A review in Blue Water Boats concluded, "By all accounts the Vega under sail handles easily and is a well balanced creature with no weather helm. Despite her shallow draft she is reported to point well to windward and while tender initially up to around 10 to 15 degrees of heel she carries full sail easily up to 20 knots. She's a fast boat downwind but offshore cruisers would do well to carry a large spinnaker or drifter for light airs."[14]

See also

Related development

References
  1. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Vega 27 (Albin) sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  2. "Albin Vega". Boat-Specs.com. 2020. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  3. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Per Brohäll 1917 - 1989". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  4. "Per Brohäll". Boat-Specs.com. 2020. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  5. Gelin, Curt (2005), 500 segelbåtar i test: bakgrund, egenskaper, omdömen (in Swedish), Stockholm: Nautiska förlaget, p. 89, ISBN 91-89564-19-7
  6. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Singoalla 34 (Albin) sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  7. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Albin Marine 1899 -". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  8. "Albin Marine". Boat-Specs.com. 2020. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  9. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Albin Vega (UK)". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  10. David Mercy, "Berserk in the Antarctic", Summersdale Publishers, ISBN 978-1-84024-479-3
  11. Jarle Andhøy and Alex Rosén, "Berserk til Valhall", Flyt forlag. ISBN 978-82-92465-29-5
  12. Shenin, Dave (21 April 2012). "Sailor Matt Rutherford welcomed home in Annapolis after sailing solo around the Americas". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  13. Vigor, John. "Albin Vega: Modest but Tough". Good Old Boat magazine. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  14. "Review and history of the Albin Vega 27". bluewaterboats.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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