VERTUE

For a 25-footer, the Vertue has a huge reputation and has conquered every ocean. So what makes this little boat quite such an enduring success? Nic Compton finds out

Anyone who buys a Vertue is buying a boat with a towering reputation. Ever since the prototype was launched in 1936, this modest little cruising yacht, with its well-judged sheer, cheeky spoon bow and deceptively slippery underwater shape, has travelled further and harder than anyone ever expected. Over 200 worldwide have been built to date, many by the Elkins yard in Christchurch but also by Cheoy Lee in Hong Kong, and even a few in glassfibre.

But, whatever their pedigree, they are much sought-after and quickly snapped up when they come on the market. To many classic boat aficionados, they are quite simply the ultimate cruising yacht.

A TOWERING REPUTATION

It all started with the prototype Andrillot, built for Dick Kinnersly, who wanted a boat that had a fine entry, would ‘spin on a sixpence’, and was capable of being sailed comfortably by a couple or singlehanded if necessary.

The design Laurent Giles came up with soon inspired improbable adventures. Humphrey Barton kicked things off by chartering Andrillot from her owner and sailing her from Lymington to Concarneau and back, a distance of 855 miles, in 23 days – a remarkable voyage in such a small boat at that time – earning himself the RCC Founder’s Cup.

But it was Barton’s 1950 transatlantic crossing, and the resulting book, that really established the Vertue legend. The idea was to ‘combine business with pleasure’ by delivering Vertue No35 to a client in the US.

It was not the first east to west crossing on a small boat, but the manner in which the 25ft boat coped with such extreme conditions – including a knockdown – opened many people’s eyes to the potential of long-distance sailing on small craft.