The originial Valiant 40 is still considered a strong offshore cruiser.

Valiant sailboats, the acclaimed offshore yachts designed by Bob Perry and originally made in Bellingham, are no more.

Valiant Yachts, now based in Texas, sent an email to owners over the weekend, notifying them that it was shutting down its production facilities immediately.

“The ongoing economic situation has created an environment where it is no longer feasible to continue production,” the email said.

Company owner Rich Worstell did not respond to requests for an interview, and no one was answering the phone at the company’s headquarters in Gordonville, Texas on Tuesday.

The announcement came as no surprise to some familiar with the company. Perry, who designed all five of the company’s sailboat models,  said he hadn’t spoken with anyone at Valiant about the shutdown but believes the economy, combined with a design that has remained largely unchanged since the first Valiant was launched in 1973, was enough to sink the company.

“The design is 38 years old,” said Perry. “I’m a boat designer, not a marketing guy, but it seems to me that you should update your product once in a while. They modified the boat somewhat, in some minimal ways, but it’s still the same hull.”

A family-run enterprise, Valiant Yachts maintained a small operation, employing about 25 workers as of 2008 and producing a small number of boats annually. Perry said higher manufacturing costs associated with a small company and a relatively small market for offshore boats were also likely factors in the company’s demise.

Valiant 42 (pictured) was still be made until the company decided to close production. Photo from the Valiant Yachts website.

“You’ve got the high-production people coming out with very different boats and getting prices down,” he said. “They don’t deliver that quality, but so many buyers these days don’t care about quality or they don’t know the difference. Valiants were designed as offshore boats, and so few people go offshore.”

Judy Nasmith, a broker at Swiftsure Yachts in Seattle and an expert on offshore boats, said with new boat sales down sharply over the past few years, even larger manufacturers have struggled through the recession.

“Everyone in new construction, I think, has hurt the last year or two,” she said. “With Valiant being such a small company and only building a few boats a year if they were lucky, (they had) huge overhead to keep the operation going, and the cost of building boats continues to go up.”

The recent announcement is a sad turn for Valiant Yachts, whose boats have long been regarded as superior offshore cruisers. The company was founded by liveaboard sailor and boat builder Nathan Rothman, who contracted with Bellingham-based Uniflite to build his yachts.

The company’s first boat, the Valiant 40, is credited for launching the concept of “performance cruiser” yachts. Considered revolutionary for introducing aspects of racing boats into bluewater yacht design, the Valiant 40’s skeg-hung rudder and modified keel were designed to give its double-ended hull increased speed and ease of propulsion.

The boat garnered numerous accolades — it was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1997 and was named Offshore Cruising Boat of the Decade in 1980 by Sail magazine. In 1983, captain Mark Schrader, who recently led the Around the Americas expedition, first circumnavigated the world in his Valiant 40, Resourceful, setting a record for the fastest navigation and becoming the first American to singlehandedly circumnavigate around the five great capes.

Just 200 Valiant 40s were built before the boat went out of production in 1992, but demand for used models continued for years afterward.

But the company’s reputation took a hit as a result of major blistering problems caused by the use of a fire-retardant resin called “Hetron” on boats built between 1976 and 1981. In the mid-1980s, Rothman sold the company to Worstell, an aviation inspector-turned-Valiant dealer who moved operations to Texas and launched the first Texas-built Valiant in 1985.

Valiants were made in 32-, 37-, 39-, 40- and 50-foot models and have remained popular among offshore cruisers in the Northwest. Nasmith lived aboard a Valiant for several years and is still a fan.

“The boats are just so well-engineered,” she said. “They’re wonderful offshore cruising boats. I love Valiants and I love sailing them. I’d never hesitate to recommend them to anybody.”

The email sent over the weekend noted that some employees, including craftsmen and technicians, will be retained so the company can continue to provide support to Valiant owners.

“We will continue to supply parts and focus on refurbishing older boats so that Valiant Yachts will be around far into the future,” the email said. “Our sales staff will also be retained and offer personalized brokerage services to Valiant Yacht owners around the globe.”

Perry said given the market and the company’s adherence to old designs, the only thing surprising about the announcement is that it didn’t happen sooner.

“I think it’s a miracle that they built the same boat for 38 years,” he said. “I don’t know of any other boat that’s been in consistent production that long.”

About Deborah Bach

Deborah Bach is the editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. She is an avid sailor and long-time professional journalist. You can find Deborah aboard Three Sheets, an Island Packet 38, with her husband Marty and their cat Lily.

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