Viknes 10 review: World’s best value family boat?

Alex Smith tests the Viknes 10 and discovers a beautifully designed, nicely built, very well specced boat, which is full of ideas that only come from years of firsthand experience on the water

Very few boats make quite such an impression within the first few months of their launch as the Viknes 10. Here was a boat that, for an all-in package price of £267,000 ex VAT, brought to the table three cabins, a massive cockpit, walkaround side decks, a lovely flow of day space and a high-spec standard features list that included side gates, vast sunroofs, a second helm, convertible seats and a whole load of cleverly conceived storage compartments.

Objective though we try to be, it was one of those boats that immediately set you thinking how it might feel to take one home; how it might work for you and your family; how it might look, nestling at a berth in your local marina.

But while the Viknes 10 was making its debut in Düsseldorf, drawing in the punters and convincing the likes of Fine Design Marine in Poole to take the plunge and import it into the UK, those who do their boating in the far north of Europe were already clued up.

Founded in 1988 and still designed and built in Norway, just a stone’s throw from Bergen, Viknes boats have long been valued across Scandinavia for their space, their value, their hardworking designs and their no-nonsense hulls.

We spoke to several past owners at the show, including a Swedish couple who run a Prestige 520, and all of them, without exception, spoke with unvarnished nostalgia about the Viknes boats they had owned and loved.

The video review we compiled received enormously positive feedback by virtue of the subject matter alone and five months on, having featured this same boat in our fortnightly MBY podcast, we finally got the chance to head to Norway and test it out in its home waters.

Drink in the details

We find ourselves just as impressed by the detailing in the aft cockpit as we were at the boat show. It uses a brilliant drop-down curtain system on three sliding runners tucked neatly into the aft end of the roof extension. It comes with idiot-proof tensioners, so you can deploy the canvases in seconds and then roll them back up into place without obscuring your view by creasing the window sections – and quite apart from the ease of deployment, that in itself makes it the best system we’ve seen.

The big port dinette is also cleverly conceived, not least because of its reverse seat hinges, which enable easy one-handed access to the storage compartments without removing any cushions. It’s secure too. There are raised bulwarks and guardrails all around the external seating area to make it feel deep and safe.

These same mouldings are topped with grippy tread so you can use them to ease your way down into the boat from precisely the kind of elevated quayside we experienced in Sandvika when we first jumped on board. There’s also a locker inside the starboard bulwark with vents for the diesel heating, so you can hang your lines or lifejackets in there to dry out. And in addition to a big deep drained locker beneath the aft platform, there are lots of smaller lockers beneath steps and decks, which are perfect for more lines and fenders.

We’re not finished though because, in addition to the option of an automated tender retrieval system, you get a pair of massive sunroofs – a rigid one above the forward saloon and a soft one above the cockpit, double-lined with a thick waterproof outer and a luxurious alcantara-style finish on the inside, so you can drench pretty much every last inch of day space in sunshine.

As on every Viknes, there’s also a fully featured second helm back here, with a proper wheel and throttle, plus thruster switches, autopilot control and joystick. True, the proportional thrusters and the joystick are optional but the rest comes as standard. And that, not to mention the sheer scale of the steering position, illustrates the value Viknes puts on being able to helm in the open air without being forced inside, away from the rest of the outdoor party.

Before we step inside then, the bow is also worth a mention. Accessed with almost as much ease via the raised port side deck as the deeper, wider starboard route, its raised central moulding is used not for a cushion-lined sunbed but for a pair of integrated weatherproof directors’ chairs that swing up as one from a hidden cavity.

They sit side by side with a lovely view of the water, divided only by a neat little tray for your nibbles. In truth that tray could do with a couple of drained cupholders, and you might also suggest (with some justification) that this charming feature makes less than optimum use of the foredeck’s available space. But it’s a lovely way to arrange things for an intimate couple’s retreat – and if you want to spoil the fun and go with a more conventional foredeck sunbed, you’ll be equally pleased to know that cushions remain an option.

Talking of options, it has to be said that the level of standard fit-out on this Viknes 10 is also quite extraordinary. It’s one of those increasingly rare boats where you can simply buy the basic package and go boating – and the fact that our test boat comes in at just 15% above the base price is ample illustration of that.

Saloon and cabins

When you head from the aft cockpit into the sheltered saloon, the single-level deck, three-part sliding doors and drop-down starboard window integrate the two zones to excellent effect. The shape of the two seating zones doesn’t quite collaborate in that but even so, it doesn’t take long before the details again bring a smile to your face.

The raised port dinette has great all-round views, a swing-over forward backrest for a pair of co-pilots and a central support for its oak table that takes the form of a very neat cabinet with storage for all your cups and glasses. You can’t convert it into an occasional double with this arrangement but again, you can opt for the more conventional telescopic leg if you want to use it as an occasional double berth.

Across on the starboard side, an L-shaped galley features a clever little stove with gas beneath glass, as well as a twin sink that sees you facing aft into the cockpit. There’s a decent bit of work surface here too plus a lifting TV behind the hinged helm seat so you can view it from that port dinette.

It’s all perfectly effective but oddly enough, it’s the storage here that feels particularly impressive. In addition to the various drawers and cupboards, there’s a big transverse storage cavity beneath the saloon’s aft deck, all beautifully divided into boxes, drawers and cubby holes. And better still, if you pop back out into the cockpit and lift the engine hatch, you discover that the engine itself is cordoned off with a false bulkhead, enabling you to use the spare volume for storage in a way you would never really consider on any other boat.

Arguably though, the most surprising element of this boat is the accommodation – because in spite of the fact that the V10 falls a few inches short of the 35ft mark, you get three cabins to play with. There’s a fore-and-aft single beneath the dinette, a transverse double beneath the saloon deck and a forward owner’s double – all with 2m beds, ample headroom and proper storage solutions. There’s only one heads compartment of course, but it comes with a good footprint, an attractive fit-out and a shower stall that can be screened off from the rest of the compartment.

It’s a mightily impressive way to use the space, particularly as that third cabin can be used as an overspill zone for bulky gear on a long cruise. In fact, the only real objection concerns the hull windows – or more specifically the fact that there are none.

You do get windows in the mouldings above the rubbing strake forward, which enables you to get standing views in the double cabins and the heads – but when you get down to bed level, they’re too high for a view of anything but the sky. Head aft to the single cabin and all you get is an optional opening window in the saloon dinette mouldings to alleviate the sense of containment.

But all is not lost. This boat is actually built in the same factory and on the same production line as the Skilsø 35, a boat which uses windows in this very same hull, so we spoke to Viknes CEO, Kristian Sivertsen, about what can be done and he confirmed what we suspected. If you want to add some hull windows to a Viknes 10, you simply need to request it.

Easy cruising

The Viknes 10 helm station is substantially raised. That’s a great help in terms of headroom at the entry point to the transverse guest cabin but it’s also a big help for the skipper. It enables you to stand up with your head through the sunroof to such a degree that it’s no problem looking down at the bow of your own boat. The Viknes helm also comes with a port window, a skipper’s side door, a well-placed joystick and lots of coolness and glare protection from the overhanging roof structure of that reverse screen, so it’s a very natural and confidence-inspiring position – and the performance fully supports that.

It uses a semi-displacement hull with a good size of keel so the directional stability at low speeds is very strong. As you move up the rev range, the performance figures do suggest that there’s a minor hump to ascend between 10 and 16 knots.

You see the dynamic between the fuel flow and the pace create a small range reduction to just under 180 miles before easing back up towards 200 and not dipping below the 180 mark again until the top end of 27 or 28 knots. But that said, it really is a remarkably flat fuel flow curve and that’s entirely reflected in the pitch of the boat, which requires only modest tweaks with the tabs to retain a good, flat angle of attack.

Clearly then, with its comfy helm, easy all-round visibility, flat attitude and broad cruising band, this is a very compliant, comfortable and well-behaved boat. It shifts a bit too with decent grunt from the top-rated 440hp Yanmar diesel and a reasonable degree of handling vigour when you fancy a play. And as hoped, it’s an easy drive from the aft end too.

There’s a good view forward, through the saloon, particularly as the starboard glass panel at the back end of the superstructure slides down inside the helm moulding. The big side windows do their bit, too, and you also get a big view up the broad starboard side deck plus direct access to the pontoon through the starboard side gate. If you’re a solo skipper or a boater with a novice crew, the Viknes 10 is in fact about as easy and as manageable as a compact high-volume cruiser gets.

Viknes 10 specifications

LOA: 34ft 9in (10.60m)
BEAM: 11ft 7in (3.52m)
DRAFT: 3ft 9in (1.15m)
DISPLACEMENT: 6,300kg (light)
FUEL CAPACITY: 700 litres
WATER CAPACITY: 280 litres
ENGINES: Single Yanmar 8LV 370 / 6LY 440
RCD: B6 / C10
CONTACT: www.viknes.no

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